Until Dawn: Embers of Hope
by Assassin master ezio 91
Summary: Following an unfortunate incident a year ago, two members of a group of friends disappear, a year later they prepare to return to where it all happened. As the gang faces yet another traumatic experience, love between two of them sparkles. Can it blossom in this hardship and will it survive? Especially with at least two crazed killers on the loose.
1. Prologue

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Prologue of a new Until Dawn story I've decided to start; bit of a twist in this one regarding Ashley as her romantic interest in this is not Chris, but Sam. They are still friends however and Chris is supportive of her crush on Sam. Anyway, in regards to this, the prank at the beginning is different and not so much a prank, more of a set up and aimed at Ashley, however Hannah and Beth still fall victim to the Wendigo.

Additionally in this, the 'killer' on the mountain isn't something made up by Josh; although he still carries out his 'prank' due to the disappearance of his sisters, but there is actually a killer on the mountain, thus the group faces three threats, rather than two. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Prologue**

The snow billowed around the mountain, the moon was high and the night dark, standing defiant against the elements was the large building known locally as the Washington Lodge, property of the Washington family; it's lights shone bright. Outside the lodge a mysterious stranger clad in dark clothing stood, he clutched a machete tightly in his hand.

Inside the lodge were ten teenagers, all within the age range of seventeen to nineteen. Right now the majority of said teens were in the dining room, two of them passed out drunk. The others were all talking quietly amongst themselves, except for one of the girls who was standing separate from the others. Three of the occupants of the lodge were the children of the Washington family.

The eldest of those was nineteen year old Joshua Washington, known as Josh to his friends, he and his sisters all had dark chocolate-brown hair and caramel complexions, unlike his eighteen year old sister's who were twins, Josh had green eyes. The Washington sisters meanwhile had dark brown eyes.

One of the sister's, Beth, was in the same room, she was the girl standing separate from the others, looking out the window. Her hair came to just below her chin with bangs framing her face. Apart from her hair being longer, down to her shoulders, the other sister, Hannah, was the perfect image of Beth.

Josh was one of the two boys passed out drunk; the other being his best friend, eighteen year old Christopher 'Chris' Hartley. A man with fair skin, short dirty blonde hair worn in a faux-hawk style who also wore a pair of grey rectangular glasses.

The remainder of the friends were all gathering together, further along the room, talking amongst themselves.

One of them, a girl of seventeen with green eyes, beige blonde hair in small pigtails and a bisque complexion, Jessica 'Jess' Riley, was smirking as her best friend, Emily Davis, an eighteen year old Asian-American woman with above shoulder length black hair and light brown eyes, an olive complexion and a small birthmark above her right eyebrow, placed a note on the table where it could be found, by it's intended recipient.

It was two in the morning, the group of teens had been partying and enjoying themselves and, some of them quite giddy from the drink, had decided to plot a set up on another member of the group, Ashley Brown. While a set up, they actually hoped it would have a beneficial effect.

Ashley had, for a long time, been crushing silently on another member of the group, another girl, Samantha Giddings. They planned to trick Ashley into going to Sam's room, dressed somewhat provocatively and, since they also knew Sam quietly felt the same way about Ashley, they intended for it to lead to them finally connecting the dots.

"I think this is a bad idea guys, I mean..." Hannah was saying, looking worried.

Jess cut her off. "Relax Hannah, it'll be fine; yeah okay it might be a bit awkward and Sam will no doubt be...kinda confused. But this could be the push they need."

"Yeah, you can't deny Ash needs a push to admit what's in her heart." Emily replied. "Sam's braver, as soon as she sees what Ash is doing, she'll realize the truth and make the first move, then Ash has the easier job."

Hannah shook her head, Emily's plan just did not sound right at all.

She turned to the other two members of the group, both young men, the first was Emily's boyfriend, Michael Monroe; a muscular young man with short dark brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. The second was Matthew Taylor; Matt to his friends, an African-American male with short black hair and brown eyes.

"And you guys think this is a good idea?" She asked warily.

Mike shrugged. "Hey, relax, it'll be cool, it's about time the two of them acknowledged what's obvious to everyone else."

"But Ashley is..."

Matt smiled. "Hannah, you worry too much; like Jess said, Ashley...showing up like this, will help Sam realize the truth, then, encourage her to act, Ashley just then needs to reply."

Hannah glanced over at her sister, but Beth was too far away in her mind to help her. She felt as if the others were ganging up on her about this.

She then pointed out her main problem with their plan. "And, you're filming it, why?"

"For posterity." Jess replied sassily. "For them, how many couples can say have the moment they declared their love for each other on video."

"Then why does she have to wear..." Hannah continued to protest.

"Because it's Ashley, get her in something like that, she's all super awkward." Emily shot back, as if talking to a five year old. "Sam finds that cute somehow, plus, getting Ashley to show even a little skin will be a miracle anyway, certainly can't hurt."

With that they all began to head off to their destination, Sam's room. Sam wouldn't be in yet, but she'd be back soon so they had to hurry, make sure they were ready for Sam arriving, then Ashley.

Hannah however was worried; She looked to the others in the room, her brother and Chris were still out cold from the drink, Beth was still lost in thought. She didn't think she could get their attention, she had to do this herself.

She thought of warning Sam so that together they could find Ashley and stop her before she did something that might embarrass her for the rest of her life. Then she thought of directly warning Ashley; she was the one most at risk here.

' _Oh please, don't let this...'_ She thought worriedly.

She quickly left the room and went looking for Ashley or Sam, praying she found of them before it was too late. Unaware of those hidden in her room, Sam returned from where she had been taking a bath, unwinding after a long day.

Sam was a young woman with fair skin, medium long blonde hair which she tied in a classic bun style at the back, leaving a few locks framing her face and hazel eyes.

She was dressed for actually going to bed, wearing her pyjamas which consisted of simply an oversized PETA T-shirt, which came down to the middle of her thighs.

She settled down on top of the bed, deciding to pass the time a little before trying to get to sleep; she pulled out her iPhone, plugged in her headphones and began to listen to some music.

* * *

Meanwhile, unaware of what was truly going on a young woman quietly padded her way down the halls of the lodge, blushing considerably, due to her attire. This was Ashley Brown, a young woman with long auburn red hair, brown eyes and pale skin.

The young woman made her way to Sam's room. Her hair was loose and the only thing covering her nudity was a sexy somewhat revealing red bikini. She hoped Sam wouldn't be disgusted by her.

Was she thin enough? What about that birthmark she had on her upper curve of left breast? The two moles on her left thigh?

' _Get a grip of yourself Ash, Sam sent you that message, she wants to see you.'_ She told herself. _'She wouldn't ask you to wear your most revealing clothes if she wasn't...interested in you, would she?'_

Trying hard to compose herself, despite her embarrassing attire, despite the pebbling on her skin from the cool air, she approached Sam's room, this was it, her moment of truth.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the dining room, Beth was looking out the window at the snow.

She bit her lip. _'Wow, it's really coming down...Huh, where has everyone, what the…?'_

Her thoughts were cut off as she spotted something outside, it looked like a person, standing out in the snow. The figure turned and left immediately but Beth saw them and turned quickly, calling out.

"Hey...Did you see that?" She queried. "Dad said it'd just be us this weekend...Josh?"

No response. She approached her brother and tried to shake him awake, to no avail. She then spotted the beer bottle next to him, amongst others. She picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

"Jeez Josh." She laughed. "Once again brother, you've outdone us all."

Shaking her head she looked around, trying to find the others, it was then she saw the note on the table and checked it.

She gasped as she read it.

"What the hell?"

The note was addressed to Ashley, it was signed by Sam, there was just one problem. Something that Beth only noticed as she examined the letter carefully, reading it:

" _Ash  
I was wondering if we could spend some special time together._

 _To see if you are like the fireplaces' inhabitant true namesake: burning hot!_

 _I always thought you'd make a fine bikini babe  
Sam"_

Beth shook her head. "God this is wrong, why would…Has Ashley already seen this?"

It was subtle, but Beth had seen one problem which worried her greatly, this wasn't Sam's handwriting. Beth was now worried that Ashley was walking into a trap, something was going on here and it wasn't going to be to Ashley's benefit.

* * *

Ashley fought not to tremble as she opened the door to Sam's room. Surprised by the door opening, Sam quickly pulled her headphones out and sat up.

"What, the...Ash?" She remarked, then her eyes widened. "What are you…?"

Ashley bit her lip; suddenly very self-conscious about her now mostly exposed body. "I um..."

She tried desperately to act calmly, to try and entice Sam, letting her see her body. She could see Sam's eyes were wide with surprise as she looked her up and down, taking in the bikini, the exposed skin.

"I got your note..." She explained; trying to be as alluring as possible.

Sam stood up, confusion crossing her face, as well as something else, an unusual fluttering feeling in her stomach as she observed Ashley's mostly uncovered body.

"Note?"

"Y-yeah, the one, left in the kitchen." Ashley replied, suddenly uncertain.

Sam shook her head. "Ash, I didn't..."

Just then a thumping noise from Sam's wardrobe and a muffled squeak caught their attention, they weren't alone.

Sam narrowed her eyes while Ashley panicked, her face going scarlet, someone was here, someone had seen her dressed like this.

"Who's there, come out." Sam demanded sharply.

To her shock and horror, and Ashley's dismay, aside from Hannah, Beth, Josh and Chris, all their friends suddenly emerged from various hiding spots in her room.

"Wh-what, what the hell?!" Ashley cried out; especially upon seeing the camera.

It had been videoed; she was on video, looking like a fool, wearing such skimpy clothes; humiliation spread through her entire being. The noise, it turned out, had been Jess, accidentally knocking over a shelf in the wardrobe.

"Guys, what the hell?" Sam demanded. "What are you doing here, and...filming this, why are..."

She then realized and glared.

"It was you, you put that note there, you did this to...to Ash...who..." She growled before realizing what she was saying.

She turned quickly, Ashley's eyes were filled with tears, she shook her head.

Sam bit her lip. "Ashley I..."

But she just cried out and ran from the room. Sam groaned before turning to glare at the others, who all shared an awkward look.

"Nice job guys, seriously...great work." She snapped sarcastically before running out. "ASHLEY!"

She wasn't sure how Ashley had managed it so quickly, but she briefly caught a glimpse of her, fully dressed, running from her room and going downstairs.

* * *

Back in the kitchen, Beth looked up and saw someone running past the window.

"What the…?" She gasped.

At that moment the door burst open and Hannah entered. "Beth!"

She turned sharply. "Hannah, what's going on?"

"It's Ashley, she..." Hannah choked out.

"Urgh, huh...what?"

They turned to see Chris sitting up, blinking rapidly.

Hannah shook her head. "You guys, we need to go, Ashley's in trouble we need to help her!"

Beth bit her lip, it was clear Josh was still out cold, Chris was still bleary eyed and clearly hungover, but he agreed and they departed the kitchen, just in time to see everybody else, all wrapped up, stepping out of the lodge.

Hannah groaned, she had been too late, they quickly grabbed their coats and hurried out after them.

Sam looked around desperately but couldn't see Ashley.

"Ash!" She called out, hoping she could hear, that strange fluttering she felt before returned briefly.

"What's going on guys?!" Beth demanded as she pushed her way to the front of the group.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, where's Ashley?"

Hannah glared. "Better to ask them what they've done!?"

"Han, it wasn't that big a deal..." Emily tried to brush things off.

Sam cut her off however. "Try telling that to Ashley...We've gotta find her."

The group agreed and soon split up, searching for Ashley. Chris grit his teeth, trying to focus, despite his pounding head.

The snow as picking up and he began to get worried; he wasn't sure where the others were and if they had found anything. He wished, not for the first time, that there was at least somewhat decent cellphone reception on the mountain, at least so they could stay in touch and inform each other of their progress.

' _Damn, what if...this isn't good...'_ He thought sadly. _'Huh, wait a minute.'_

He then heard sobbing nearby and quickly began to follow it. It did not take him long to find Ashley, collapsed in a heap in a clearing, crying her eyes out.

He hurried over to her.

"Ash."

She looked up, startled. "What...Chris?"

He shook his head. "Oh jeez, Ash, you must be freezing."

Ashley shook her head, trying to move away. "No, please, don't..."

But Chris took his coat off, giving it to her. "Ash, it's alright...I, I did hear what happened."

"Oh no..."

"Look, it's alright; everybody is looking for you, we're all worried." Chris tried to reassure her.

"I don't wanna go back to the lodge, I don't wanna see them." Ashley whimpered, hugging Chris' coat tight around herself. "They humiliated me, made me look like a total idiot, in front of, in front of..."

She couldn't finish; Chris just nodded. "It's alright, alright. You don't have to, but let's at least get out of the cold."

He had looked around and realized he knew where they were.

"Listen." He told her gently. "There's a cabin near here, if you don't want to face them back at the lodge, we can hold up there for the night. Give everything time to calm down. At the very least, we need to get you out of the cold."

Ashley didn't say anything, just nodded. Chris quickly helped her to her feet and led the way. He could hear Ashley as she walked behind him, the soft sniffles, he didn't have the full story, he just knew something cruel had been done to her, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to face the others.

* * *

Before long they finally reached the cabin and were soon inside. Once Chris got everything set up he turned to Ashley who was now seated on the sofa. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and she had her arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth, still sniffling.

"Ash; look, I don't know..."

She shook her head. "They filmed it Chris; they humiliated me and filmed it, I'll never, I can't..."

He bowed his head. "Listen, Ashley, Sam isn't happy with them, even if they filmed it, it's not gonna spread, she won't let it."

Ashley bit her lip but nodded; Chris did have a point.

"Alright." He said at last. "The bed's through there, you can sleep there..I'll sleep on the sofa, okay. Just...let's just sleep and worry about everything tomorrow, okay?"

She nodded again and stood up. But at that moment a shrill shriek filled the air. They both started and looked around.

"What the...what was that?" Ashley whispered.

Chris shook his head. "I...have no idea."

They were both worried but neither of them dared leave the relative safety of the cabin. In the end weariness won out, they both found themselves drifting off into a fitful sleep; unaware that this night of humiliation for Ashley, was just the precursor, to something that would change things forever.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	2. Chapter 1

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 1 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Ashley remained despondent as she waited; the trip to the lodge was over and she was waiting to be picked up to be taken home. She was still dismayed and embarrassed by the humiliation she had been subjected to, by her friends no less.

But her own issues paled in comparison to what they found the following morning. She was grateful to Chris for being so understanding and doing what he could to support her. She couldn't bear to even look Sam in the eye. Yet none of the others said anything about what they had done to her, they revealed a horrific truth.

Hannah and Beth had gone missing and what followed had been a hectic and overwhelming but ultimately fruitless search

' _We never found them, God and it's my fault.'_ She couldn't help but feel guilty. _'It's not about me I know, but if I hadn't ran off, if they hadn't come to search for me, nothing would have happened to them.'_

She shook her head; everything was so messed up right now, she was exhausted, distraught and unable to think straight. Too much happened too fast for her mind to cope with.

"Ashley!"

She started and looked up, approaching was her father, from whom she had inherited her hair and eye colour, he looked at her worriedly and Ashley guessed her exhaustion and despair was showing on her face.

"Dad..." She whispered.

Her father hugged her. "We heard, about Hannah and Beth, but...something else is wrong, isn't it."

She shook her head, her father, she knew, could read her like a book, but she had to keep it hidden.

"No, they're gone, they're gone..." She replied.

She let him lead her out to the car, praying that her family would just assume her dismay was due to Hannah and Beth's disappearance. The reason they were out in the first, her own humiliation, would have to remain her little secret, she couldn't let it be known.

Everything was just utter chaos in the days, weeks, even months that followed the latest trip to the lodge. Hannah and Beth were never found, the police were forced to eventually call off the search, although for all intents and purposes the case remained open.

For Ashley, it became harder and harder every day to hide her secret. She knew her parents were getting suspicious, even Jake and Lisa, her brother and sister, at 12 and 9 years old respectively could see something was wrong. At school she reverted to being almost completely alone; it hurt but she couldn't bring herself to even speak to any of her friends, at least, the ones who were in on the prank.

She still talked to Chris and together, along with Sam they spoke with Josh, trying to help him.

' _But I still can't even look at Sam; let alone talk to her. But I can feel her looking at me, now she knows, I couldn't have displayed it more if I tried.'_ She thought in dismay. _'Now Sam no doubt feels disgusted by me, she just doesn't want to say it. God what have I done, I can't believe I was so stupid.'_

Yet still she pressed on; until the pressure of keeping everything bottled up became too intense. It had happened during the summer, while she was away with her family on vacation.

It had been her siblings sudden desire for them to go to the beach that triggered it.

Ashley had tried to gently refuse; which immediately drew attention to her due to her usually loving the beach. But now, to her, beaches meant swimsuits and swimsuits meant reminders of how she had been made a fool of in front of the girl she had been crushing on for three years.

"Ashley honey, what's wrong?" Her mother asked worriedly. "You love the beach, what…?"

It was then, Ashley simply couldn't take anymore. "Mom, dad...please don't hate me."

"Hate you, what…?" Her father gasped.

She replied quickly, she had to get the words out before her nerve broke. "You see, something happened at Blackwood, it's my fault Hannah and Beth disappeared."

There was silence after that; taking a shaky breath, Ashley began.

"My friends, when we were there they, they...tricked me." She explained, trying hard to stay calm. "They embarrassed me and filmed it..."

There were gasps, her father spoke firmly.

"Ash, what did they do?"

Shaking her head she choked out the words. "They tricked me into thinking my crush was interested in me and, and wanted to see me...in a swimsuit, while they filmed it. When I saw I just, I lost it..."

"What?!"

"Mom, it's more complicated than what you're thinking." She burst out quickly; to head off any issues. "This, this crush...it's a girl."

More silence followed that.

Finally her mother broke the silence.

"A girl, so, so you…?" Ashley nodded. "Oh Ashley."

She was shocked when suddenly her mother embraced her. "Mom."

She saw her father smiling gently and nodding. "Ashley, we..."

"This wasn't how I wanted to come out, but..."

"We understand dear." Her father said. "But, what exactly does this have to do with Hannah and Beth?"

So Ashley continued her story, telling her family, noting that, to her relief, even if Lisa didn't fully understand yet, they all seemed accepting of her revealed sexuality too.

She told them of how she had been humiliated, how she had ran away, how her friends all left to search for her. Chris finding her, them taking shelter, hearing the shriek and everything that happened afterwards.

She shook her head sadly. "If I hadn't run away, they wouldn't have been out there, they wouldn't have disappeared."

She broke down then, only to be comforted by her family.

It was then her father gently told her. "No Ashley, you're not to blame, none of this wouldn't have happened, if your friends hadn't played that cruel joke on you."

Ashley just nodded; she wasn't sure that was the case, she still felt guilty. She had also left out one detail in her story, nowhere did she say, that the girl she loved, was Sam.

She had to admit, throughout the rest of the year, she felt better now that she was at least out with her parents. Despite everything, she insisted her parents not press the issue of what her friends had done to her, she simply wanted to forget it.

They were reluctant but in the end agreed and Ashley thought that maybe she'd manage to look forward to the future and maybe put all this behind her, even if it still hurt to feel Sam would never return her feelings.

Then came Josh's video message, inviting her and all the others back to the lodge, on the anniversary of Hannah and Beth's disappearance.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Also, just a heads up, on my profile page I will set up a poll to determine which of my three big Until Dawn stories I focus on first, if you want this to be the one, I'd recommend going and voting for it. The poll will run from today until Sunday the 12th March, then on Monday the 13th I will begin making an effort to continue the story that got the most votes. If there is a tie between two stories, I will determine which one I do via coin toss.


	3. Chapter 2

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 2 of my Until Dawn story, well, as the poll ended in a tie, I flipped a coin to see which I would do and this one is the winner, so I'll carry this one to its finish first; hope you enjoy it.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Sitting on the bus as it drove towards the base of the mountain, Ashley bit her lip; looking out the window at the dark forest, the falling snow.

' _Why did I even agree to this?'_ She thought to herself. _'You'd think I'd learn, last year...The humiliation still stings, they all know it...'_

She closed her eyes, trying to purge the images from her mind. She still felt terrible about how she'd made a complete idiot of herself in front of her crush. Worse, knowing that it had been a set up by her friends, that they'd done it on purpose, that only fuelled her embarrassment.

She sighed. _'Yet I'm going back, where any one of them could try and get me again, or, or bring it up...Am I honestly that much of a glutton for punishment?'_

In truth she told herself there was only two reasons she was going back. One was for Josh's sake; he had seemed so happy and hopeful at the thought of having them all back, she just couldn't bear to let him down after he'd lost his sisters. The second was more personal, and she admitted, more selfish, no matter how embarrassed she felt, the thought of seeing Sam again.

' _I_ need _to see her, at the very least to know where we stand, to try and, clear the air.'_ She told herself. _'So long as I don't lose her friendship, I can accept her not liking me that way...right?'_

No matter what way she looked at it however, any thoughts about Sam left her feeling the same, with her stomach turning flips and her heart speeding up.

Opening her eyes she noticed she was almost there and so got up and moved to the front of the bus, she spoke quickly to the driver and disembarked once the bus had stopped.

It drove away and Ashley let out a slow careful breath, shouldering her backpack. She couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched however, as if, there was someone nearby. Shivering she looked around, but couldn't see anyone.

"Whoa, okay, weird." She muttered worriedly.

Shaking her head she began to walk up the path, reaching the gate. Opening it she stepped onto the snow covered path that would take her through to woods and up to the lower cable car station. She was still lost in thought, afraid of what she would face, how the others would react after what they did to her.

"Ash?"

She started and turned, her face rapidly going bright red as Sam approached her.

"Oh, Sam..." She stammered.

Sam smiled warmly, something that just made Ashley melt inside. "Good to see you."

Ashley nodded, rubbing her arms absently; despite the fact she had dressed up for the weather, it was still colder than she expected; nevertheless her striped reddish-pink beanie, light bluish gray hoodie, long-sleeved red shirt, blue jean shorts and dark leggings did a reasonable job keeping her warm.

Additionally she had her red-striped fingerless gloves, the only concession she made to accessorizing was a green rectangular ring on her right middle finger, and a silver locket.

Sam had dressed up warm too and to Ashley, looked stunning as ever, wearing a purple long-sleeved shirt, a black leather jacket wrapped with a lipstick-red thick scarf around her neck, gray boots with white trimmings, a fur hat and a red plaid skirt along with black tights.

She wore no jewelery although her fingernails were painted blue with snowflake designs on them. It was clear that like Ashley, Sam's clothes, while warm, still left her feeling some of the cold.

"Have you, been out here, long?" Ashley asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Sam shrugged. "Not that long, I was on the bus just before yours."

Ashley nodded; suddenly overwhelmed with awkwardness, what was she supposed to do now, say now, here she was, with the girl she loved, the girl who had seen her in a revealing swimsuit, now knew about her crush on her.

But neither of them said anything about it, both trying to avoid the embarrassment Ashley had suffered because of said incident.

' _Oh God, what do I do, what if she…?'_ Ashley fretted.

Sam however remained her usual warm, kind self. "Well, what do you say we get going up to the lodge...the walk might help warm us up."

Ashley nodded and together they continued onwards, Sam bit her lip as they walked, looked at Ashley out the corner of her eye.

She couldn't deny she was worried about Ashley, especially for the girl's mental state. She and Ashley had barely spoken since that night; Sam couldn't help but feel conflicted about what she had seen that night, and not just how much Ashley had shown her, what Ashley had revealed, in more ways than one.

She was worried the mental turmoil would be too much; indeed it seemed that even now, Ashley was waging war against her own mind; it was making her miserable.

But Sam wasn't sure exactly how to help, especially as she wasn't sure herself, just what she was feeling, not even right now. It was then she realized Ashley had stopped.

"Ash?"

Biting her lip, the auburn haired girl had plucked a piece of paper from the gate and held it out to Sam.

She fumbled her words briefly. "It, uh, it's from Chris, it says the gates busted."

"Oh, terrific." Sam replied, shaking her head, but then smiled. "No worries, we can climb up there."

She pointed to what she had seen a wall to their left, it looked worn and some of the bricks protruded, forming perfect handholds and footholds.

"Oh great, Sam, I'm no good at climbing things." Ashley reminded her.

Sam just grinned. "Relax Ash, you have me, I can help you out."

That just made Ashley awkward all over again; but she did her best to nod and follow Sam. After giving Ashley a boost up, Sam began climbing right behind her, ready to help. With Sam's help and encouragement, Ashley made it to the other side of the Wall, Sam right behind her.

Once on the other side they resumed their walk; things were still awkward between them, Ashley keeping quiet; unable to think what to say. Sam meanwhile was still lost in thought about Ashley and her worries for her.

Ashley broke from her fretting about how things stood between her and Sam long enough to find the cable car station door was locked.

"Huh, what the…?" She muttered.

Sam smiled. "It's cool; Josh told me they locked it because they found people sleeping in there one time. The key's here...somewhere..."

After some brief searching Sam found it and quickly unlocked the cable car station. Hearing her comments however, Ashley recalled the feeling she had earlier, someone watching her and shuddered again.

So it was they entered and, once on the cable car, sat down, both on the same side but with some space between them. Their journey was mostly silent; both of them thinking about the same things as earlier, Ashley fretting and Sam worrying about her, especially seeing more of her mental turmoil.

' _This isn't good, it's not like Ash at all, I get she's having...problems and I don't blame her.'_ Sam thought sadly. _'But, she can't keep everything bottled up like this, or she's...she's going to...'_

She shook her head and tried to think, how best to save Ashley from the impending mental breakdown she feared was approaching. She was jolted from her thoughts by the cable car stopping, they had reached the upper station, they quickly disembarked, getting ready to head for the next step of their journey to the lodge.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	4. Chapter 3

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 3 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you've been enjoying it and well, wait and see what happens, remember what I said in the summary, there's...another 'Psycho' on the loose.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Heading to the door of the upper cable car station, Sam and Ashley again found their progress blocked as the door wouldn't open.

"Aw, man." Sam muttered. "Great, hmmm..."

Ashley shifted nervously; both nervous yet strangely thrilled at being stuck with Sam, in such a confined space. "What are we gonna do?"

She quickly chastised herself and tried to focus instead on finding some way out.

Sam peered through the glass. "Must have locked from the other side; there's a button out there but...oh, there's Jess."

She quickly knocked on the glass, drawing a shocked reaction from the girl.

"Jessica over here." She called out. "We're stuck in here, please, get us out?"

It did not take long for the door to them open and Sam exited, Ashley followed, biting her lip; immediately her tension and awkwardness returned full force. Jess was one of the ones involved in the prank, not only that, it had been her sudden bout of clumsiness which led to it being exposed.

"Thanks Jess; thought we were gonna be stuck in there." Sam remarked as they stepped out into the cold air again. "Although, I suppose there are worse ways of being stuck."

Ashley chewed her lip, wondering if she had just imagined Sam saying that, or if she was looking more into it than she should.

Trying to distract herself she glanced over at Jess; aside from her attire of a stone blue parka, purple top and what looked like a white undershirt, along with jeans and snow boots, the only real difference Ashley could detect was that she had ditched her pigtails in favor of twin dutch braids.

Still she didn't want to get too close to Jess, or spend too long in her presence.

' _She was one of them, one of the ones who ridiculed me...she...'_ Ashley found herself thinking desperately.

She found herself moving, while Sam and Jessica were talking, trying to keep Sam between them. Jess however noticed this behavior and couldn't help thinking about it.

"So, you been up here long?" Sam asked casually.

Jess shrugged. "Not that long; it's good to see you guys again."

Sam grinned. "Yeah; well; once we're all up at the lodge and everybody is around, I guess we'll be ready to start huh?"

"Guess so; gonna be...interesting." Jess replied; unable to stop worrying. _'God, Ashley is; she's avoiding me...and for good reason; it's partly my fault, what happened to her...'_

She couldn't help but feel humiliated, it was no secret after all, just how humiliated Ashley felt after what they did to her. It was a wonder she'd even come this year, in fact it was a wonder she wasn't the one who ended up going missing.

After a brief pause, during which Sam glanced back at Ashley, then at Jess, as if just noticing what was going on, Sam broke the silence.

"So; what's been going on Jess, how have you been?"

Jess recovered quickly, although the guilt continued to gnaw at her. "I'm good, yeah...Been, pretty interesting year to say the least."

Sam nodded slowly. "I'll bet."

Her attention was then drawn to the view by the railings; Jess carefully observed as she made her way over there. Ashley hadn't noticed so it was a bit of a shock to her when she looked up and suddenly, there was Jess standing next to her.

"Oh, I..." She frantically stammered.

Jess shook her head. "Ash, relax, please. I just...I just wanna talk."

Ashley bit her lip; there was no malice in Jess' voice, so she decided to take the chance.

"Y-yeah?"

Jess bit the corner of her lip and then sighed. "Look about last year, I'm sorry, really. We; it wasn't supposed to..."

Ashley shook her head. "What, wasn't supposed to happen that way, I made a complete idiot of myself thanks to you, worse, Sam now knows that..."

"We just, wanted to help you guys. We thought, we just wanted to try and get the two of you together...We could all see; so we hoped we could bring you to together." Jess tried to explain.

Ashley sighed. "How; how did you think that…?"

Jess shrugged. "We just, we thought that if we could get you and Sam together like that, it would, well, spell it out for you both. You can't deny Sam's braver than you, as soon as she saw what you were doing, we thought she'd realize the truth and make the first move, then you'd just have to respond."

Ashley raised an eyebrow; a little taken aback by that.

Finally, making sure Sam was still preoccupied; Ashley turned back to Jess.

"I'm sorry, I'm not, I'm not following this logic you're trying to present." She said.

Jess sighed. "Yeah well, we were...really drunk, it made sense on the night. I'm just, so sorry Ash, for everything, really, I can't help but..."

Ashley could see Jess was being serious and couldn't help but feel slightly relieved, at least Jess, who was arguably the biggest gossip of the group, at least felt truly sorry and wouldn't give her a hard time.

"Jess, I...thank you." She said softly. "It's, alright I...I do forgive you; at least you...understand."

Jess blinked but then grinned. "Wow, I...thanks Ash, I'm glad you...oh, hey Sam."

Ashley quickly started as she then saw Sam returning to join them.

"So, what are you guys talking about?"

Ashley felt panic seize her again, but Jess came to the rescue.

Even though what she said surprised Ashley too. "Oh, we were just talking about how Mike and I are together now."

"What, really?" Sam gasped.

Jess nodded. "Yeah; he and Em split not too long after...what happened last year; now, he and I are together."

Sam glanced at Ashley and then replied. "Uh-huh, I see. Well, cool; we better get going guys, we don't want to be late."

"You go on ahead." Jess said. "I'll just, wait here, see who else is coming."

Sam just nodded and turned to Ashley. "Coming Ash?"

"Oh, yeah."

She quickly followed; relieved to at least clear things up with Jess. But that didn't end her awkwardness, especially as it was now just her and Sam again.

* * *

Meanwhile, higher up the mountain, on an observation deck, looking through a tourist telescope, was Chris.

' _Whoa, no way?'_ He thought, surprised by what he saw. _'What is going on here, I thought...'_

He bit his lip, worriedly aware he was in fact spying on two of his friends. But the activities of said friends made it difficult to look away.

He shook his head. _'Mike, Emily, what the hell are you guys doing, I thought you broke up?'_

Yet there they were, in full view of the telescope, flirting with each other; getting a little too close to simply be friends. As he pulled his view away from them, suddenly.

"Yo!"

Chris cried out and leapt back, just in time to see Matt approaching, grinning.

"Jeez, Matt...hey." He replied; recovering.

Matt nodded. "So, what's up man, whoa, hope I didn't…?"

Chris shook his head. "No, it's cool, took me by surprise, but yeah, I'm good."

"So, whatcha looking at?" Matt asked, approaching the telescope.

Chris immediately panicked. "Oh, uh Matt, wait, don't..."

But it was too late; for Matt looked through the telescope, which was still focused on Mike and Emily.

"What the...son of a bitch!" Matt cried out.

Chris cringed but then stepped up to him as he straightened up.

"Hey, sorry man. I just wanted to...Look, it's probably not even." He tried to reassure him.

Matt shook his head. "Not even what, c'mon, it's Em, so it's obviously something."

Shaking his head Matt stalked off, heading up the path to the lodge; leaving Chris to awkwardly follow; he wasn't looking forward to how things would go when finally the whole group was together again, not after just happened.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	5. Chapter 4

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 4 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

Just a note, this chapter will seem similar to the corresponding chapter in my novelization, that's because it is essentially the same, just with some different dialogue at certain points and some dialogue being skipped altogether due to the different circumstances, anyway, it is here one of the differences also shows something important, namely, the voicemail message, wait and see.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Yeah, but the question is, will she be able to admit the truth.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, well, things are heating up that's true, well, that's if Emily even pays any attention to Ashley at all. Remember, when she comes into the lodge she has other things on her mind and Ash is hiding in the background.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Sam smiled as she and Ashley finally reached the lodge, Josh stood waiting for them grinning.

"Hey, Sam, Ashley, what's up?" He greeted them enthusiastically.

Sam nodded. "Hey Josh."

Ashley also managed a smile, feeling a bit more relaxed now there were more people around. "Hi."

"Glad you could make it." He said cheerfully. "C'mon, let's go, the others are waiting."

' _Others?'_ Ashley thought nervously. _'Oh God, what if...Okay, calm down, calm down.'_

She was getting herself worked up again, she had to remind herself she did have people who supported her here, it was unlikely any of them would stand for anyone giving her grief about last year, not to mention Jess had apologized, certainly something to give her hope.

So she followed Josh and Sam towards the steps leading up to the lodge, as she did so, she spotted the others he mentioned. Chris and Matt were already there waiting for them.

Seeing them Chris stood up, grinning; Ashley felt a bit more relaxed, Chris had after all helped her out that night and while Matt was the one who filmed the incident, he at least had the decency to feel guilty about it.

' _He looks rather down…?'_ She noticed, biting her lip. _'What is, I wonder what's wrong?'_

She quickly focused again however as Chris spoke up.

"Hey, good to see you guys." He said cheerfully.

They all nodded, greeting him too.

Biting her lip Ashley asked quietly. "Um, what's up with Matt?"

Chris sighed. "It's...complicated."

Ashley wasn't sure she wanted to pursue it further, Josh shook his head, indicating they shouldn't and Sam seemed to agree.

"Well, we better get started." Josh stated casually. "I'll go get the door."

Chris smiled. "I'll be right with you man, Ash, can we talk for a minute."

She started at that but nodded. "Oh, yeah, sure."

She followed him to the side while Sam returned to the gate, Matt walking further down the path to wait by a collection of bags Ashley guessed were Emily's.

Once they were alone Chris turned to her, looking anxious.

"Have you uh, said anything to Sam, about...you know?"

Ashley nearly choked at that. "What, are you, you're not serious...I can't."

He tried to explain. "Ash, it's..."

"What am I supposed to do?" She queried, incredulous. "Just walk up to her and say, I don't know. Hey Sam you probably guessed it last year, but it's true, I'm in love with you."

"I just, meant..." He stammered.

"Meant what Chris?"

He sighed and shook his head. "It's not healthy to keep it all bottled up Ash; at this rate...We can all see it, you're hurting over this and it's gonna keep hurting unless you do something."

Ashley felt her shoulders slump at that. "But I can't Chris; Sam will, what if she doesn't...I could lose everything, her friendship, her respect. It's a fact to be okay with gays, it's another one to know a friend crushes on you."

Chris sighed and shook his head. "I just, I want to help you Ash; like I said, it's not healthy. I just, hope you'll figure it out, okay?"

Ashley sighed but nodded, hoping he was right. Sitting down on the steps, she waited while Chris went to join Josh at the door.

The first thing he heard when he reached the door was Josh complaining.

"Dammit, this freaking thing." He muttered angrily.

Chris stepped forwards, raising an eyebrow. "It's iced?"

"What else?"

Thinking for a moment, Chris then made a suggestion. "Maybe there's another way in."

Josh shrugged and stated. "There are a million ways in, they're just all locked."

"There's gotta be, like, a window round the can get, like, get open, or something." Chris said in reply, not to be discouraged.

Josh turned to look at him incredulous. "Wait a second, are you saying we should break in?"

Chris shook his head, stammering slightly. "I don't think it's technically breaking in if you own the place, right?"

"Hey, not if I don't report you." Josh replied, laughing at Chris' unease to show he was joking before speaking again. "Lead the way, Cochise."

Chris just sighed and turned, starting to head down the steps. Once at the bottom of the stairs, he and Josh began to walk along the path at the side of the lodge, looking to go around it and see if they could find a way in. As they did so Josh queried.

"So, how are we planning on breaking into my parents' lodge, bud?"

Chris grimaced lightly. "Wait, I didn't say _I_ had a plan-"

"You sounded like you had a plan." Josh replied; before joking. "You better deliver, Cochise"

Both boys laughed as they continued.

As they walked, Chris stopped as he noticed something, at the side of the lodge was a holder for a fire axe, but the glass was broken and the axe, disturbingly, missing.

"Hmmm..." Chris muttered, biting his lip.

Josh nodded. "Don't worry about that, it's been missing for ages."

Chris nodded, reassured and then, just to his right, he saw it, just what he needed. There was a window he could see that was unlocked, and nearby was a cabinet that could be moved underneath the window, with a bit of elbow grease. He gestured to the cabinet, drawing Josh's attention and he moved to shove it.

Josh went to the other end and took hold. "Well, well, well, we got ourselves a thinker, nice one."

Working together they moved the cabinet beneath the window, Chris then climbed up and nearly overbalanced.

"Whoa..." He muttered, but managed to right himself.

Nodding to Josh he pulled open the window. Looking through he could see it led to the garage. He began to climb through the window, only to tumble unceremoniously, landing on the floor with a yelp. Groaning he lay there as Josh climbed the cabinet quickly and held onto the windowsill, looking down.

"Ugh, I'm okay." Chris replied quickly. "I should have paid more attention in climbing class..."

Josh looked a little perplexed by that. "Uh...you mean 'gym'?"

Standing up Chris nodded. "Yeah, you know, with the climbing up the rope-"

His words were cut short when, with a loud pop, the light bulb smashed, plunging the room into darkness.

Chris looked around startled, Josh was surprised too.

"Whoa?" He gasped.

Suddenly feeling awkward Chris looked up to just. "Uh, did I do that?"

"I don't...I don't, think so." Josh replied; before pulled out and throwing a lighter to Chris. "Here, use this."

Chris caught it and ignited it, providing him with at least some light to see by. Looking at the lighter Josh's eyes widened and he grinned.

"Whoa, Chris, I just got an awesome idea." He said quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Totally."

Chris nodded. "Well, what is it?"

Josh began explaining. "Okay. So. I am PRETTY sure that I've got deodorant in one of the bathrooms... you could use THAT with the LIGHTER..."

"I don't...I don't follow." Chris replied, shaking his head. "How's a stick of deodorant gonna help?"

Josh looked amused as he replied. "Spray on, it's a can."

Realization dawned on Chris. "Oh, yeah, now I gotcha."

"Flamethrower."

Chris grinned. "Just like we do with the lil' army dudes."

Josh grinned as he too recalled the fun they had, torching the plastic army men.

"Yup, the ones we melted." He said with a grin. "Just point the spray-can at the lighter then...FWOOSH."

"Bye-bye frozen lock."

"Bingo, alright so you got this." Josh remarked, he glanced back to the front of the lodge. "I'm gonna go sort something out. You up for hunting around in the dark a little bit?"

Chris sighed but shrugged. "Nope, but I'll do it."

"Godspeed pilgrim." Josh shot back with a John Wayne impression.

Josh then jumped down from the cabinet, out of sight, leaving to Chris to wander the dark alone.

Chris began making his way through the lodge, looking around, remembering so many things from the previous trips here. Some things stood out, catching his eye, namely a newspaper fragment about an escaped convict who was rumoured to be in the area

He couldn't deny that worried him, especially in light of recent findings, such as the missing axe. This was despite Josh's assurances.

' _Well, what do we have here, huh...'_ He thought to himself, but stopped.

He smiled wistfully as, on his way up to the main floor, he spotted a family portrait, showing all the Washingtons, including Hannah and Beth. Just then he jumped as he heard a strange noise.

"Huh, what the hell was that?" He muttered.

Anxiously he continued onwards, opening the door and entering the main part of the house. In the main hall he continued to look around. He stopped by the front door, glancing out the small window, he could see Sam and Ashley standing just outside, Ashley looking awkward, Sam observing her worriedly.

Smirking at the chance for a small prank, he ducked out of sight. Sam and Ashley stood talking together, when suddenly, from inside.

"WOOOooOOooooOOO!"

They both jumped, but immediately recovered, recognizing the voice.

"Hi Chris, very funny." Sam remarked at once, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

Chris let out a small groan. "How'd you know it was me?"

Sam just pointed out. "Shouldn't you be, like, getting the lock open or something?"

"On it!"

With that Chris resumed his journey through the house, it was clear the power was gone in the whole place now, not just the garage.

His journey through the house, interrupted by him looking around, lost in memories, led him to some strange things, such as a rather unsettling answer phone message.

"Mrs. Washington; I'm calling to inform you of a report made by your son Josh; He expressed concern regarding two strange figures he saw prowling around the mountain. We believe one of them is the man you mentioned in an earlier report to us." The voice stated; it sounded official, a police officer perhaps. "Anyway, we tried to search ourselves but couldn't find either of these people. If your son and his friends insist on their usual trip to the Mountain, please urge them to rethink their plans, or at least be extremely cautious."

Hearing this certainly worried Chris. Other things he found were less worrying and produced pleasant sights, a picture of Hannah, Emily, Mike and Sam at prom, a picture of Josh, Hannah and Beth at the beach and finally a film trophy Josh's dad had won. Chris actually remembered it, he had gone with the Washingtons to the ceremony where it was won.

' _Wow, feels like so long ago...so many memories.'_ Chris thought to himself; before shaking himself out of complacency. _'Okay, stop dawdling Chris, you got a lock to heat up.'_

Quickly recovering he made his way through to the bathroom. He immediately went to and opened the cabinet beneath the sink and saw the deodorant can in front of him. Smiling he went to take it, just as his hand closed around it a furry, sharp toothed creature leapt from the cabinet with a roar and ran from the room.

"AHHH, SON OF A-!" Chris cried out in shock and alarm as he fell to the ground.

Recovering he stood, staring out of the door. "What the fuck!"

He blinked and then looked down, he still had the can. "Ahh, perfect."

He picked up the lighter and lit it again and made his way back to the front door.

Waiting outside the girls did their best to stay warm against the cold.

All the same, Ashley couldn't help but complain. "We're freezing our buns off out here!"

It was then they spotted Chris through the glass as he got to work, using the deodorant and lighter to burn the ice off the lock. He put the items aside and opened the door, the handle was still hot, making him wince but he recovered well and gave a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week-" He joked making the girls roll their eyes.

Suddenly at that moment, the creature from the bathroom darted out through the door, startling Chris and the girls, Chris more so.

"EEEK!" He cried out, not in a very manly way. "Jeez!"

Sam and Ashley laughed at that while Chris shook his head, trying to recover.

"Crap that thing freaked me out." He muttered.

"What was it, are you okay?" Ashley asked, concerned.

Shrugging Chris shook his head. "It was like a bear or a tiger or something."

"Aw..." Sam replied in a cutesy tone. "It was just a cute little baby wolverine."

"Baby?" Chris shot back incredulously.

Josh had, by this point, reached the top of the stairs, with Matt just behind him.

"Don't worry buddy, you're gonna be a big boy soon." He teased.

Chris just groaned and the five of them finally entered the lodge.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	6. Chapter 5

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 5 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy, again this will feature only minor differences from the actual game, while some of the differences from my novelization will be more apparent due to the way things unfold. But things will start to take on a different edge, starting next chapter.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, yeah LOL :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you liked that bit, yeah, things are going to start getting interesting soon :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Entering the darkened lodge, Josh smiled widely as he gestured widely.

"Home, sweet home."

Matt shook his head, a little creeped out by the lodge in darkness. "Sweet is not the word I'd use."

Ashley shivered and blew on her hands. "Oh my gosh, it's SO GOOD to be inside. Even if it's still kinda freezing in here."

"I'll get a fire going." Josh offered happily.

He knelt down by the fireplace and began setting up the fire. Meanwhile, Sam moved over to the stairs leading to the upper floor, sitting down on them, let out a relaxed sigh. Matt looked around at the lodge.

"This place barely looks any different." He noted.

"Nobody's been up here." Josh replied with a shrug.

Ashley turned at that, a little surprised. "Even with all the police coming in and out?"

Josh nodded and Chris clarified.

"Not a lot of action up here lately."

Josh nodded in agreement. "Nope."

Chris and Ashley walked over to join Sam, although they simply remained standing by the stairs. Despite the awkwardness between them, Ashley couldn't help it, she just wanted to be close to Sam. Chris checked his watch and couldn't help but notice how long it had taken for all of this, it was now 22:28.

He couldn't help but note that most of that time was spent by him searching the lodge while preparing to open the door. Nevertheless, they were all inside now, just waiting for the others to arrive, Matt remained by the fireplace while Josh continued to work on setting up and lighting the fire.

It was at that moment Mike and Jess entered.

"What's up party people!"

Jess had an equal grin as she also greeted everyone. "Heeey!"

Josh greeted them enthusiastically; as did the others except for Matt and Ashley, Ashley just remained quiet, trying to stay hidden in the background. Matt however glowered as he recalled what he had seen, through the telescope.

"Make yourself at home, bro." Josh was saying cheerfully.

Jess sat down on the sofa while Mike began to go and join her, replying. "Will do."

Matt stood up then, glaring. "Yeah. Come on in. Take a load off. Have whatever you want."

Mike stopped, clearly taken aback by Matt's attitude. The others had noticed this too and tensed.

"You just take whatever you want anyways, right?" Matt continued.

Mike held up his hands and shook his head. "Whoa, easy there cowboy."

Glaring Matt cut right to the heart of the matter. "What the hell were you doing with Em out on the trail, huh?"

"What?"

"I saw you and Em, through the telescope." He explained.

Mike raised an eyebrow at this and replied casually. "Before? We just ran into each other. It'd been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?"

Silence followed his statement for a while.

Matt sighed, struggling with himself before simply shaking his head, he really wasn't one to start a fight and besides, this wasn't why they were here.

"Right, yeah...huh..." He stammered. "Sorry, it's been kind of a long day, I overreacted."

Mike smiled and nodded. "Nah, man, don't worry about it?"

"We cool?"

"Yeah, yeah." Mike responded as he went to join Jess again. "Totally."

Soon things seemed to calm down as Matt sat down again and Mike and Jess started making out. That was, until Emily finally entered, the last one to show up. She took one look and instantly felt her anger spike and, glaring she snarked.

"Oh my god. That is so gross. Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

All eyes turned to her, especially Mike and Jess, with Jess glaring at Emily's comment.

"Em..." Matt called out warningly, worried she was about to start something again.

Emily however turned to him and shook her head. "Seriously can she be any more obvious? No one wants in on your territory, honey."  
Jess stood up and turned to face her. "Excuse me, did you say something?"

"Oh, did you not hear me?" Emily shot back. "Was your sluttiness too loud?"

The others all shared a worried glance, it was hard to believe these two girls had been best friends only a year ago. Jess however responded to Emily's insult with a superior smirk.

"Sounds like someone's bitter she didn't make the cut." She taunted.

Unmoved Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's all a big cattle call with that dreamboat. Congrats, you're top cow."

With a short, disparaging laugh, Jess shot back. "Cuts real deep calling Miss Homecoming a cow."

Matt shook his head, this is what he had been trying to avoid.

He stepped forwards, trying to calm things down.

"Em, come on-" He said reasonably.

She just snapped at him. "Shut up, Matt."

Jess then turned on him. "Stay out of it you dumb oaf!"

"Hey, watch it-!" Emily yelled furiously.

"Oh you're the only one who can put him down?" She queried, a sarcastic taunting edge to her voice. "No one else can play with your toys?"

"You're such a bitch!"

Jess was unmoved by Emily's anger however and Matt looked worriedly at Josh, who was clearly trying to contain himself; at Mike who just shook his head. The others too, who remained in the background, especially Ashley, who had shrunk further into the shadows when Emily entered.

She really didn't want Emily to see her. _'She's the last person I want to see, I just know she'll try and bring up what happened last year and, and twist it some way...Even though she was the one who, who set me up in the first place.'_

She really didn't want to hear Emily's taunting about 'doing her favor' and so stayed out of the argument, cowardly maybe, but Ashley truly didn't want anything to trigger more bad emotions from that night.

Jess casually shrugged as she continued.

"Whatever. I don't give a crap what you think."

But Emily would not let it lie. "At least I can think. 4.0, bitch, honour roll. Suck on that when you're trying to sleep your way into a job."

It was clear things were getting more and more heated, which worried the others even more. But none of them could see a way to intervene without things getting even further out of hand.

"Who needs grades when you've got all the natural advantages you can handle?" Jess replied with a smirk as she gestured to her body.

"Oh please..." Emily muttered darkly.

Jess merely shook her head, her smirk and superior look growing, clearly intending to once again take things further. She opened up by snarking at Emily, once more acting as if she had the advantage.

"You couldn't buy a mouldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass."

"Are you serious?" Emily shot back; almost laughing. "Do you think that's insulting?"

Jess turned to Mike, pointing at Emily. "That bitch is on crack or something."

Matt shook his head, this was going way too far.

"Emily, stop!" He pleaded. "This is out of hand, there's no reason to fight like this!"

Emily just glared at him while Jess smirked. "Yeah, Em! Why you pickin' fights over your ex boyfriend? Huh?"

Before Emily could respond to the catty comment, Josh stood up, clearly having had enough.

"STOP IT!" He yelled, standing up and glaring. "This is not why we came up here, this is not...helping. It's not what I wanted."

There was an awkward silence, everybody looking guilty.

He sighed. "If we can't get along for ten minutes, then maybe we need a little bit of a break right? Mike, why don't you check out the guest cabin, the one I told you about."

"Yeah, yeah alright." Mike replied, jumping to his feet, relieved. "Want to go do that?"

Jess turned to him and nodded, firing a parting shot at Emily. "Any place without that whore."

Josh's glare however stopped things going any further.

Once sure they weren't about to start up again Josh gestured towards the rear exit of the lodge.

"it's right up the trail." He said.

Nodding Mike took Jess' hand and they headed out the back. There was a stony silence, during which Emily turned to Matt. He shook his head and imitated his head exploding before sighing.

"Phew, glad that's over!" He remarked at last.

Emily just rolled her eyes and turned to her bags. Josh meanwhile continued to work on the fire.

"Yeah..." He said gently.

Matt shifted awkwardly. "So Josh, uh, should we get this fire going?"

Josh smiled at Matt's awkward attempt to pretend nothing had happened.

"Where's my bag?" Emily asked suddenly.

Everyone tensed at that and Matt turned to her quickly, everybody sensing another drama oncoming.

"Huh?" Matt replied; worried.

"My bag!" She emphasized. "The little bag with the pink pattern. The one I got on Rodeo!"

Silence greeted her and she shook her head.

"Matt are you listening?" She demanded. "Oh my god, don't you remember? Next to the Italian shoe place where I got the stilettos and you knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that girl at the counter?"

Matt quickly walked towards Emily, getting defensive.

"Well, I mean, she was asking about my letter jacket-" He stated quickly.

Emily rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically. "Right, because she gave a shirt about your 'designer' letter jacket."

Matt gave a short gasp as he responded at once. "Why do you hate my jacket?"

"MATT, I need MY BAG!" She shot back, reminding him of the 'real issue' here.

Matt looked around, but everybody was all staying out of it, leaving him to handle things alone.

He tried to reason with her.

"Oh my God, Em, maybe you just forgot it-"

She didn't respond well to that however. "Do you seriously think I'd forget my bag?"

"Well, I-"

Do you?" She demanded.

Matt sighed. "Guess not."

Nodding, satisfied she stated calmly. "You must of left it down by the cable car station."

He let out a groan and she quickly responded.

"C'mon hun, we'll be back soon." She told him.

"And then we can get warm?" He queried, already tired of arguing _and_ freezing his ass off.

She grinned and remarked suggestively. "We can get _very_ warm."

Matt nodded and agreed at last and together they left, preparing to head back to the cable car station.

After a brief, awkward silence as the group of eight found themselves reduced to four, Sam let out a relieved sigh and stood up.

"Okay, I am gonna go take a bath." She stated before turning and climbing the stairs.

The others all nodded, Chris and Ashley moving to sit on the sofa while Josh continued to work on the fire.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	7. Chapter 6

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 6 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy; while there's yet to be any major changes, there are a few in here that make slight changes to the story, including the first (off-screen) appearance of a certain shady character (not the Stranger).

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, this is the chapter I told you about, there will be a couple of interesting little twists here, anyway, enjoy :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Mike sighed as he and Jess stepped out of the lodge; immediately discussing their situation, Jess seemed to be taking it in her stride, something Mike couldn't help but smirk at. Her incredulity at the cabin prompted him to comment.

"This cabin, is the coziest, most romantic love shack you will ever lay your eyes upon." He grinned.

Jess rolled her eyes. "If we ever make it."

Mike shrugged casually, leaning on the balcony ledge. "Oh, I have a feeling luck's on our side."

Laughing at this Jess remarked teasingly. "Play your cards right and maybe you will get lucky."

Mike grinned at that and straightened up, they were both prepared to get going. Just then Josh opened the door and leaned out.

"Hey, porn stars!" He called out to them, throwing something to them. "You're gonna need these."

Jess caught it revealing it was the keys to the cabin.

She raised an eyebrow at Josh's comment however and queried. "Porn star?"

Josh stepped out, laughing. "I'd pay to see it."

"Uh, gross?" She replied; shaking her head.

Josh just laughed again. He then turned to Mike and sighed.

"Sorry to kick you out like that-" He began.

But Mike just casually waved his hand. "No worries man."

Nodding Josh remarked suggestively. "Oh I'm sure you'll find a way to entertain yourselves."

"Mmm-hmmm." Jess replied, doing her best to ignore his suggestive comment. "Well, you have fun with the peanut gallery."

Laughing Josh mimed a gun shot to the head and began to make his way back inside.

"Oh, almost forgot." He said, stopping suddenly and gesturing. "Gotta fire up the generator so you can see where you're going, it's dark out there."

With that he headed back inside while Mike nodded and prepared to begin.

Smirking Jess turned to him and remarked.

"You know, I think Josh was flirting with me."

"Mmkay..." Mike replied before joking. "You want to invite him up with us?"

"Wait really?" Jess replied.

"What?" Mike gasped, shaking his head. "No!"

Jess laughed and together they continued down the path, briefly stopping for a romantic selfie. They headed to the generator shed and Mike got to work trying to start it up. Once he was done he grinned and turned to leave, Jess suddenly gasped.

"Mike!" She cried out. "There's someone there..."

He turned, he didn't specifically see anyone, but he caught sight of a shadowy shape disappearing from sight at the window.

"What the..." He gasped.

Jess hurried up to him, grasping his arm. "Okay, who, what...what was that?"

Mike shook his head. "I don't know, I mean...I didn't get a good look."

"But you did see something?"

He nodded and then, taking a moment to compose himself, he led Jess out of the shed.

"Let's just keep going, I don't think there's any way for who or whatever that was to get to us here...But I don't wanna chance it." He told her gently.

Jess nodded in agreement and together they hurried to the gate to begin their journey down the path.

Walking along the path, enjoying themselves and sharing casual banter, they soon encountered a problem. Said problem turned out to be a tree blocking their path

"Ah damn." Mike muttered. "I don't think we can get up to the cabin with the path blocked like this-"

Jess shook her head vehemently at that. "Oh no way am I going back to the lodge a.k.a. wax museum to drink hot chocolate with Emily."

As she spoke she began to walk the other way, along a separate for in the path. "You know what? Fuck it. We're adventurous. We will find another way around."

By this time Mike had joined her, they had entered what appeared to be an abandoned mineshaft entrance, with a wooden waist high barrier blocking the way forwards. Jess leaned on it, only for the rotting timbers to break and for her to fall, screaming.

"JESS!" Mike cried out. "Fuck!, Hey, Jessica!"

He darted to the edge to find her standing up, breathing heavily but apparently unharmed.

"Yep!" She called out, turning around. "Hey, I'm okay!"

Mike breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, you scared the heck out of me."

Brushing herself off Jess shot back. "How do you think I felt!"

"Er, you didn't hit your head or anything?" He questioned, still worried.

With an impish grin Jess replied. "As far as I can tell, I still have all seven of my limbs."

"Yeah..." Mike replied with a small laugh at her sexual reference. "Can you get out?"

She looked behind her and bit her lip. "Uhhh, I don't know. I can hardly see anything down here!"

Mike pondered for the smallest of moments, on his course of action.

For Mike, it was a no-brainer.

"Alright, comin' after ya, just stay put!"

With that he jumped down; unaware of the dark clad figure with goggles and a scarf covering his face standing behind him. But Jess did see him and recognized him.

"Oh my God, Mike!" She cried out.

But by the time Mike recovered and turned to where she was pointing, the figure had left.

"What?"

She shook her head. "I saw him again, the guy at the shed."

Mike groaned. "Great, what is he now, following us?"

"Oh, don't say that..." Jess replied worriedly.

Mike nodded gently, did his best to reassure her and they continued onwards through the mines; despite the various dangers encountered they finally made it out. Their relief heightened as they continued up the path and saw the cabin in the distance. Eyeing the cabin Jess let out a low whistle.

"Well, well, when Josh said 'cabin' I thought like, Abe Lincoln." She joked.

Caught up in her mood, Mike replied. "Wait'll you see the Lincoln Bedroom."

"Oh, are you planning to get presidential on me?"

"Wanna take a ride on Air Force One?" Mike joked.

Shaking her head Jess replied. "Alright, alright, save it for the stump speech buddy."

It was then she spotted an observation telescope and hurried over to it excited, looking through it all the while cheerfully muttering to herself.

"Gonna look at the trees... gonna look at the clouds... gonna look at the cabi-... Uh. Whoa."

She stepped back, shocked.

"Y'alright?" Mike asked, concerned.

Jess bit her lip. "I just saw someone at the cabin."

Mike was instantly alert.

He stepped up to the binoculars to look through them himself.

"What, is the guy from before?"

Jess shook her head. "No, this guy looked different, but...just as creepy."

Mike couldn't see anything however, but he trusted Jess and was worried, even more so when their journey hit another dead end, another fallen tree. To which Jess just had to show off and climb it, after teasing him about being negative.

"Oh boooo!", Show off." Mike remarked in response.

"Hey Mike." Jess said, standing up straight. "You got something on your face."

Mike reached up to his face then Jess suddenly threw a snowball, hitting him square in the face.

"Boom!" She cried out.

"Okay, okay?" Mike said as he recovered, making his own snowball. "Well, if that's how it's gonna be."

He turned around, ready to throw, only to find Jessica gone from the tree trunk.

"Jess?"

Suddenly he heard a scream, a scream he instantly recognized.

"Jess!?"

Worried he reacted instantly, especially hearing the second scream, climbing the tree and dropping into the path behind it.

He rapidly followed the only trail he could find, Jess' footprints, calling out to her repeatedly. It was then he found something truly worrying, Jess phone, lying against a rock, set up with the camera on, to capture the path he had come up.

Picking it up he looked around. "Jess..."

He heard rapid footsteps and spun to his right, just in time for Jess to nearly bowl right into him.

"Whoa…"

"Ah, no!" She screamed, panicked.

He quickly tried to calm her down, noting that she seemed disheveled; there were one or two tears on her parka, another on her jeans and a small cut on the back of her hand.

"Jess, whoa, it's alright...what happened?" He gasped.

Seeing him properly she let out a shuddering breath. "Mike, oh God, I saw him, that creep I saw through the telescope; he came after me."

"What?!"

"I was trying to set up a prank when he came after me, I tried to run, but I got lost...I, I don't know I even got back here, but he..."

Mike hugged her close. "Whoa, easy Jess, easy, it'll be alright. You're safe, you're here."

Jess took a deep breath. "What are we...gonna do?"

Mike thought for a moment, this was certainly freaky, but the way he saw it, they had little choice.

"Jess, the path back is blocked, and...this late at night, I don't fancy our chances climbing. Look, whatever's going on, if we're together, we can get through it, let's keep going okay. We should at least be safe in the cabin."

She nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I guess so."

So they hurried onwards, Jess pocketing her phone.

They continued now even more desperate to reach the cabin, Mike briefly wondering if they'd have any more distractions on the way. They soon got their answer as another deer leapt out in front of them and ran ahead, making both of them yelp. A short while later, they heard a high-pitched screech.

"What is that?" Jess shakily whispered.

"Not sure I wanna know."

It was shortly after that they found the dying deer. The poor creature lay on the ground, it's neck savaged, it's labored breathing spoke of it's agony.

"Damn..." Mike whispered.

Jess shook her head in dismay. "It's horrible."

Examining the deer Mike shook his head sadly. "I don't think it's gonna make it."

Deciding to at least ease it's final moments, Mike slowly approached it.

He knelt down, talking gently.

"Hey bud...hey buddy."

Jess did the same, talking softly. "Oh my god, the poor thing..."

He moved closer and gently stroked its head.

"It's okay...it's okay..."

"Mike, it's in so much pain." Jess said sadly.

He nodded before talking, again trying to be reassuring. "It'll be over soon, okay? It'll be over soon."

Suddenly they heard the high-pitched screech again and the deer was suddenly yanked away from them, into the shadows. They both cried out, terrified.

"AHHH!" Jess screamed.

"WHOA-" Mike looked around wildly before quickly calling out. "RUN! RUN!"

They fled for their lives as they heard the wet, crunching noise of the deer being slaughtered by whatever had grabbed it, something that was now right behind them.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	8. Chapter 7

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 7 of my Until Dawn story, again, due to the events involved, it's a truncated version of actually a large chunk of my novelization, with extra details to fit the new issues, but there is a new original scene at the end that should be interesting.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Indeed :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Yeah well, one of those following them, remember what they were saying after all; glad you enjoyed it :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

As they ran, hearing the sounds of rapid pursuit, Jess screamed.

"Oh my god, what the hell was that!?"

"I don't know!" Mike yelled back.

Spotting a route, Jess cried out. "There's a bridge!" Over here! Over here Mike!"

She leapt over the gap of the fallen bridge, Mike following close behind, also jumping the gap. They ran further, ducking and leaping over branches as they ran.

"It's a bear, it's gotta be a bear!" Mike cried out.

Hardly reassured Jess stopped, looking in dismay at the path splitting, a steep hill to their left offered a short cut, while the other was the actual path.

Mike nodded to her and took off towards the short-cut, she followed at once and they began climbing the slope, Mike helped Jess up several times until they finally reached the top and began to run for the cabin, now right in front of them.

They climbed the small set of steps onto the porch and Mike reached the door, Jess however tripped, dropping the key.

"Jess!" Mike turned sharply.

She struggled to her feet, gesturing to the key. Getting the message Mike grabbed the key and hurried tried to unlock the door, urging Jess on as she got up and joined him. They managed to get inside and close the door behind them, locking it.

It took them some time to recover but when they did so, they were soon ready to get back to the business at hand. Unfortunately the cabin had it's power cut, was freezing cold and certainly not the cozy love shack they had been expecting.

Luckily Mike soon found a way to make things a lot more comfortable. Turning on an electric lantern to provide 'mood lighting' and starting up the fire in the fireplace, although Jess did worry about her missing phone. But in the end, they put all else from their mind as Mike turned to Jess after lighting the fire.

"Alright my lady, what comes next?" He queried.

With a suggestive grin, Jess stood and steered Mike until he was seated on the sofa. Casually humming a disco beat to which Mike grinned and settled back on the sofa to watch.

He did not sit still for long however and soon they were making out, casually undressing each other, before long Mike's upper body was clad in just his white sleeveless undershirt; meanwhile he grinned as he finished pulling off Jess' undershirt, revealing her white floral-patterned bra.

Smirking impishly at him she shrugged off her jeans, revealing matching panties before they soon resumed making out, ending up on the sofa, basking in the heat of the fire.

Just then a loud crashing noise got their attention, causing them to break apart.

"Wha?"

"Huh?" Jess gasped. "Mike, what is that?!"

"I don't know!" He responded at once.

"Okay, well go find out, now, please!" She hissed, sounding scared.

Mike nodded slowly, standing up and pulling on his socks and shoes before making his way through to the bedroom. The window was broken and something was lying on the floor, playing a song. Mike picked it up, it was Jess' phone.

"It's your phone!" He called out, turning.

She was now standing in the bedroom's doorway, still clad in just her underwear.

"What?" How is it my phone?" She replied incredulously.

Mike shrugged. "I don't know it just...came through the window!"

Jess suddenly glared, enraged as she plucked her phone from Mike's hand.

"Oh for fuck's sake- God DAMMIT!"

"What?"

Jess then gestured outside, retorting angrily. "Those goddamned assholes probably followed us out here to fuck with us and just when we were getting down to business!"

With that, despite the cold, despite her attire, Jess stormed through the cabin to the front door, opened it and stepped out onto the porch.

HEY! YEAH! PRICKS! THAT MEANS YOU! I KNOW you're OUT THERE! The FUCK are you trying to do!?" She screamed into the night. "You want to ruin our fun THAT BAD?! Well GUESS WHAT? You can't! You can't ruin our good time! Because Michael and I are gonna FUCK! That's right! We are going to have SEX! And it's gonna be HOT! So ENJOY IT! Because I know WE'RE GOING TO!"

Shaking her head and turned, heading back inside, slamming the door.

"Oh give me a break." She muttered.

Standing by the door, arms crossed she looked over at Mike. He sighed and began to approached her.

Suddenly something broke through the door, grabbing Jess by her head, she screamed in sheer terror as the thing that grabbed her yanked her forcefully through the broken window part of the door and out into the frigid night, her screams still echoing horribly as Mike witnessed the whole thing in utter shock and terror.

Recovering from the sudden attack on Jessica, Mike darted forwards, still holding his lantern.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, what the fuck!" He cried out.

He grabbed the hunting rifle he had spotted next to the door when they entered and darted outside the cabin, leaping down into the snow.

"JESSICA!" He yelled before noting the footprints and drag marks in the snow. "Oh my god, oh my god..."

He took off running, following the trail.

"JESS! Jess..." He cried out, listening, praying he could hear her respond, even if it was only a scream.

His heart was hammering, the blood pounded in his head, the wind rushed past his ears. All Mike could think about was saving Jess from whatever, or whoever, had grabbed her. As such, the cold barely affected him, not even when he stopped to contemplate his choices, for he saw two routes ahead.

One was shorter but more risking, jumping over some fallen metal tubing to cross the river, or following the path around. For Mike, it was a no-brainer and he began to leap from metal tube to metal tube until he finally crossed the river and took off running again.

"JESS! JESSICA! JESSICAAA!" He cried out as he continued to run.

But his frantic searching was still getting no response. He stopped when he reached a ledge and looked around, it was dark, hard to see and the ground was some distance below. Gritting his teeth he set his lantern down and aimed the hunting rifle, trying to use the scope to see the path below.

He searched without any result and began to panic.

"Jesus, fuck...fuck..." He whispered but then stopped. "JESS, NO!"

He spotted her, a little worse for wear, dirt had smeared onto the back of her thighs and panties, she was frantically crawling away from something. But then, whatever it was, as Mike couldn't see it through the scope, grabbed her and began pulling her away.

"Argh, NO!" She screamed, before pleading loudly. "MICHAAEELLLL HELP ME! HELP ME!"

She was yanked away out of sight, still screaming. Mike leapt to his feet, picking up the lantern and shouldering the rifle again. He wasted no time and jumped down, sliding down the cliff.

"Holy SHIIIT! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK! URGH!"

The whole way down he cried out, managing to grab a branch on the way down to slow his fall, it broke but allowed him to land on his feet. He quickly retrieved the rifle and lantern and kept running.

"Keep going, keep going." He told himself.

His adrenaline pounded, making him move faster, ducking under low hanging tree branches and leaping over protruding tree roots. He silently cursed, he could no longer hear Jess screaming, his only source of finding her was the unusual footprints and drag marks still fresh in the snow.

Continuing his pursuit and taking any short-cut he could he soon arrived at an abandoned mine building, he sought desperately for Jess, or even whoever had taken her, there was no trail to follow now.

But he could hear Jess screaming, he called out and she cried for him to help. He hurried, following her voice, only to realize, to his horror, that he was too late.

An old elevator was stationed there and lying on it, covered in blood with several gashes to her face and chest, as well as her arms and legs, it was clear she had been attacked, whatever attacked her only sought physical damage however for, although stained with blood and dirt, her underwear was still on and not disturbed in the slightest except by what would be expected from her struggling.

But she wasn't moving, Mike fell to his knees next to her.

"NO! OH GOD! Nooo... Jessica... Oh god!" He cried; he had been too late.

But then she suddenly gasped, his eyes widened. "Jess! Jess! Are you okay!?"

She attempted to move, but clearly did not have the strength, even turning her head seemed a chore.

"Help..." She wheezed.

Mike began to reach for her when suddenly, there was a loud, metallic snap and the elevator dropped into the depths of the mines.

"JESSSICAAAAA!"

Mike started in dismay as her body vanished from sight; he had come so close and now she was gone. Head bowed he nearly collapsed into tears, when he noticed a strange shape forming a shadow above him.

"Huh? What the fuck." He mumbled as he looked upwards.

He could see the shape now, it was clearly a person, a figure, looking down at him. A sudden rage gripped Mike then and a red mist descended, this had to be the person responsible for what happened to Jess. At that point, only one thing registered in Mike's mind. Vengeance.

Reacting at once in blind anger, Mike raised the rifle, taking aim at the figure above and firing. Mike wasn't sure exactly what happened, either he missed or the figure avoided the shot, either way he shoulder the rifle and began to run up stairs.

' _Son of a bitch, you're not getting away from me!'_ He thought furiously.

Running up the stairs he very nearly fell through a hold in the ground but leapt over it at the last second. He stopped only when he reached the elevator shaft and began to climb it.

He quickly climbed to the top and, spotting a figure walking away. He was sure this was the man who killed Jess. He couldn't let him get away, he took aim, but the gun jammed.

"What? Come on, come ON!" He growled throwing the now useless gun aside. "Piece of shit..."

Looking up he saw the man jumping down a hole and a gate beginning to close.

"Christ!" He yelled as he took off running. "Gotta make it!"

He dropped and slid along the ground, only just making it past the gate before it fully closed. Catching his breath Mike struggled upright.

' _Dammit, gotta keep after him, can't let what happened to Jess...'_

He shook his head, he had to focus on following and finding out who this guy was, then he'd get his revenge. Spotting an older style lantern Mike quickly claimed it, turning it on with his lighter before picking it up and following the path the figure took.

He leapt down the hole and made his way out of the mines and into the snow.

"Oh fuck." He muttered as the cold finally bit at him.

But then he saw it, a strange large building in the distance, he could just make out the man he saw earlier, walking up the path towards it.

"Jesus..." He whispered to himself. "The fuck is that place?"

He slowly, carefully began to follow the path himself.

* * *

Down the bottom of the mine shaft, Jess lay, still bleeding from her wounds. Approaching her was the man she had seen by the cabin, the one who had pursued her in the woods. A strange figure, clad in strange almost military style clothing, but with his face covered.

"Such a pity..." He muttered as he knelt next to her, before noticing. "Ah, wait..."

She was still breathing, he grinned, it looked like he was going to have his fun after all and this was just the beginning.

So, preparing for his next step, he picked Jess up off the ground and casually slung her over his shoulder, keeping one arm wrapped securely around her thighs, he casually began to walk away, deeper into the mines.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please. Okay, we'll be breaking away from Mike here, poor Jess is in the hands on an unknown individual, but, apart from a brief scene with her, next chapter is going switch to Matt and Emily, what awaits them, we can only wait and see.


	9. Chapter 8

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 8 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai; Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Well, all we can do is wait and see, as for what's going to happen, let's just say we've still got a ways to go, don't forget, we have this going on and Josh hasn't even started his plan yet.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Nestled within the bowels of the mines, off the typical beaten path was a strange den, many supplies were stashed within, food, medical supplies and many, less savory instruments. Also within the den was several items of makeshift furniture, mostly tables and chairs.

The place was sparsely lit by torches, but still enough light to see by. It was here the strange figure carrying Jess entered and carefully set her down on one of the tables and then observed her for a moment, smirking darkly.

"Quite the catch..." He muttered appreciatively. "Now then, let's see, can't have you dying too soon my dear, so..."

With that he got work, using his medical supplies to perform rudimentary first aid on Jess' wounds. This stopped the bleeding and any chance of infection, but they would still spread pain; not that he cared, pain was his business after all.

Satisfied she would survive at least, he turned and made sure the two chairs that were fixed to the floor, opposite each other, in the middle of the room, were ready. Smiling that everything was ready, he removed his blood stained trench-coat and gloves, replacing them with his only fresh gloves and coat.

He then picked Jess up and carried her to one of the two chairs, sitting her down in it and began to fasten the straps attached to the chair. He secured her wrists to the armrests, ankles to the front legs of the chair; he also added straps to the front legs of the chair that secured her legs, just below knees and two more straps, one around her stomach and another just below her breasts.

"My dear, beautiful blonde; I will be back soon, with a little playmate, then we'll…have some fun." He told her, not caring if she heard or not. "Perhaps I will seek the other blonde and the redhead too, but for now..."

Laughing to himself he picked up a length of material and pulled it between Jess' lips, through her teeth, before knotting it tightly behind her head. With her secured and gagged he left to seek his next target.

* * *

Matt suppressed a sigh as he walked alongside Emily, through the frigid wind and snow. He was still edgy from what had just happened in the lodge, especially the fight he had just witnessed. He thought it was bad enough that he had nearly been guilty of causing that same issue himself.

"Seriously Matt, let's get moving, the sooner we find my bag, the sooner we can get back." Emily called back to him.

He nodded and quickened his pace. "Yeah, yeah sure."

He kept waiting for the inevitable storm. After all, his actions during Emily and Jessica's fight certainly hadn't pleased her.

' _I technically didn't side with her, even though I was just trying to stop things from going too far...'_ He reflected.

As they walked together, he carefully glanced at Emily. She was looking around, and seemed to be no different than usual. Except for the fact that her mouth was forming a tight line and her eyes seemed narrowed.

"Argh, dammit." She muttered.

He blinked and then queried. "Em?"

She shook her head. "This is ridiculous, I can't believe this...Matt, something, and I'm pretty sure it was my bag, _was_ here, but, well, see for yourself."

He stepped up next to her, looking where she indicated.

What he saw startled him. The outline of an object was in the snow, but the object itself was gone. Apart from their own footprints, only one other set could be seen, approaching the outline and then leaving.

"So, wait...if this is your bag...it's been stolen..." He stammered.

He saw Emily's eyes widening as she too made the same conclusion. "Who could've stolen it, I mean, we're the only ones here and we were all up at lodge. No one but the two us came back down this way."

Matt shook his head. "Ooookay...this is getting-"

He never finished his sentence for at that moment, they both heard the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping, very close to where they stood. They looked around wildly and then Emily suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Matt..." She whispered.

He turned and saw what had startled her. Amongst the trees was a shadowy figure; they could see the unmistakable glint of a knife in one hand. He wasn't sure how to react at first, neither did Emily. The figure didn't move and almost seemed to be a fake; it was something they hoped at least, until the figure did indeed move, towards them.

"Shit..." He whispered.

Emily hissed. "Matt, we..."

He just nodded and, neither of them gave the matter any further thought; they simply turned and ran.

Looking over her shoulder, Emily let out a gasp, the figure was chasing them; gaining on them. She turned and tried to move quicker.

"Matt, move, move, move!" She cried out. "He's catching up!"

Matt growled and also began speeding up. She reached out to try and grab his hand, in the hopes of keeping up with him, but stumbled, with Matt not noticing as she ended up falling over a small ledge and tumbling down a hill. With a grunt she hit the ground and immediately tried to recover.

' _Shit, shit, move.'_ She chastised herself. _'He's coming.'_

Over her shoulder she could see the figure at the top of the hill she had tumbled down, he was making his way down it. More gracefully than she had. Gritting her teeth she forced herself up and resumed running, a horrible realizing coming to her, he was after her.

She and Matt had been separated and yet, he was coming after her. Trying desperately to get away she weaved through the trees, trying to lose him, but at the same time, not get lost herself. Her flight eventually lead her to taking cover, close to the main path, watching fearfully for any sign of this strange figure.

She fought to control her breathing when suddenly, startling her and making her let out a muffled scream, a hand covered her mouth.

"Em, shh, it's me." Matt whispered. "There..."

She nodded and he took his hand from her mouth. She didn't chastise him for scaring her like that; he had good reason, after all, the figure was only a few feet away, to their left.

Remaining hidden carefully, they watched as the figure seemed to give up and walked towards a drop in the path, with several signs indicating it was an entrance to a mineshaft. The figure casually leapt down and disappeared from sight.

"Oh my God, Matt, he was after _me_." She whispered. "We got separated and he just kept coming after me."

Matt shook his head. "This is seriously messed up, c'mon, we better get back to the others, we need to warn them."

She nodded in agreement and together they began to run, making their way back towards the lodge.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	10. Chapter 9

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 9 of my Until Dawn story, again, we'll see a scene from the game, but some of the dialogue is different, especially an important talk between Josh and Sam, hope you enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Oh no, far from it.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Indeed, yes there is more danger than anyone knows, yet we can only wait and see how they will unfold :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Back at the Washington Ski Lodge, Sam was upstairs in the bathroom, adjusting the taps at the bathtub and shaking her head. She checked the water with her hand, sighed and adjusted the taps some more. She sighed, no matter what she tried the water wasn't heating up.

' _Urgh, great, well...guess I should...'_ She thought to herself.

Straightening up she began to make her way out of the bathroom and prepared to make her way downstairs; as she did she stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down at where Josh was working on the fire, Chris and Ashley watching him.

Sam's eyes gravitated towards Ashley, she was relieved to see the red haired girl seemed calmer than before.

' _All the same, there's still something, something in her eyes it seems...'_ She thought, feeling her face heating up. _'Whoa, okay Sam, calm down...'_

She took a moment to compose herself, wondering where that strange sensation came from. Instead she focused on the task at hand. She stepped down, listening in as her friends began talking.

"Alright peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you two." He remarked.

"What?" Ashley replied; taken aback by his sudden remark.

Grinning Josh explained. "Okay, well, I'm pretty that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have... a spirit board."

Ashley made a face at that. "A what?"

"Wow..." Chris sarcastically gasped. "You have 'a spirit board'?"

Finally realizing just what he meant Ashley asked incredulously. "Wait are you saying...we should have a seance?"

Chris however shook his head. "Those things are a joke, man, they don't do shit."

"No way bro." Josh insisted. "We used to do it all the time, me and...well..."

They all went quiet at that, knowing he was talking about his sisters.

Sam decided now to make her presence known.

"Hey Josh." She called out; trying not to react to Ashley jumping at her sudden appearance. "No hot water's kinda major oversight, doncha think?"

Josh just smiled and gestured. "Yeah, yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler, it's in the basement."

"You guys see if you can find the spirit board." He said, turning to Chris and Ashley.

Enthusiastic Ashley stood up. "Chris, let's go find it, it'll be like a scavenger hunt."

"Ummm...okay..." Chris replied, uncertainly. "I guess so."

"Rad..." Josh replied happily. "You're not gonna regret it."

So they split up, Chris and Ashley headed off on their search while Josh began to walk towards the basement, inviting Sam along, she followed. As she did so, she smiled at how much better Ashley seemed compared to how she was when they met at the base of the mountain.

' _Still, I can't, I can't believe it, everything that happened last year, now, the issues this year...'_ She wondered. _'How, how do I even begin to...'_

She cringed, she had been so worried about Ashley she never stopped to consider her own thoughts and feelings. It was only now she was aware of just what a confused jumble they all were. Josh paused for a moment as he went to retrieve a flashlight from the drawer.

"Sam, I...I need to talk to you, about Ash." He said at last.

Sam tensed, a little uneasy. "Ash...What, what about her?"

"What about both of you, you mean." He said. "Listen, everything that's happened, yeah it's hard, for a lot of us. But...Sam, you yourself saw how Ashley was struggling and, and you are too."

Sam blushed again, once again she was facing that confusing mix of feelings. "I...I just...I don't know what I feel."

Josh shook his head. "Look Sam, just be honest with yourself; you know how Ashley feels about you, do you feel the same way about her?"

"I...I don't know." She admitted at last, looking defeated.

Josh nodded calmly, smiling reassuringly.

Finally he shrugged and replied casually.

"Well, just tell her that, at least let her know how things stand." He said. "Better than just letting things fester, not good for either of you."

Sam shook her head. "What I just say, Ash, I know you're into me, but I'm not sure how I feel?"

Josh replied. "I wouldn't say, exactly like that; but, trust me, if you can just clear the air, make it clear that you're still trying to work things out, it'll be cool, alright. Ash will accept that."

Sam sighed but nodded. "I hope so."

Satisfied Josh nodded and began to lead the way as they headed down to the basement, seeking the boiler. Soon they found the boiler cabinet and Josh got to work, opening it and preparing to set things up.

"Alright...sorry to drag you down into the bowels."

Sam shook her head. "Just get me some hot water and I'll be super-fine."

"I mean..." He replied, glancing at her. "I wouldn't want you coming down here on your own, you know?"

Looking around Sam bit her lip. "Well it is definitely creepy down here."

"Yep, not a place to be on your own."

While Josh worked Sam spotted something in the cabinet and picked it up, a little surprised, it was a baseball bat.

"What's this doing here?" She asked, turning to show it to Josh. "Is this yours?"

Smiling widely Josh took it from Sam and examined it, even giving a practice swing as he spoke.

"You bet it's mine." He said excitedly. "I used to play ball with my Dad all the time. Of course that was before he got too busy to hang out with me... Oh well, save it for the couch, right?"

Sam couldn't deny she was a little worried at how rapidly Josh's mood seemed to switch, but she held it back.

Setting the baseball bat against the wall, Josh examined the boiler again.

"Okay, lemme see what I can do with this old hot water machine." He quipped, handing Sam the flashlight. "Here, can you...can you hold this?"

Sam took but then turned quickly, hearing a strange noise. "What was that?"

Josh turned to her. "What was what?" Just, shine it here so I can see what I'm doing."

Turning Sam did so and held the light steady while Josh worked.

"Nice one." He said once he was finished. "Okay first things first: we gotta increase the water pressure before we get the boiler fired up."

Sam bit her lip. "Sounds kinda complicated."

Josh shook his head. "No it's actually pretty simple."

He then walked her through it and Sam took her place, ready. While Josh worked the water pressure began to build and, when the light flashed, just as instructed, Sam pulled the lever, the boiler came rumbling to life.

"Whoa!"

Josh grinned. "That's more like it, alright! Five, girl!"

Returning the grin Sam high-fived Josh who smiled widely before turning and closing the boiler cabinet. It was then, suddenly, Sam was sure she heard the noise again.

"What the hell is that…?"

Josh stepped forwards, shrugging. "Could be a lot of things...and none of them nice..."

Seeing his smirk Sam shook her head. "Hey quit it."

"I'm just...just 'Joshing' ya."

Sam rolled her eyes and mock laughed at his bad joke.

Josh genuinely laughed however as he teased her. "You were really freaked out."

Sam scoffed and tried to protest. "I was not scared."

"No, no..." Josh replied quickly, still joking around. "You just jumped because you wanted to squeeze in some aerobics?"

"Don't be an a-hole okay?" Sam continued to protest. "I totally didn't jump! All I said was "what was that" which is a totally normal reaction to hearing a super creepy noise in a super creepy basement."

She was cut off by the sound happening again.

Josh tensed, stepping forwards slowly, now both of them were looking down the corridor leading further into the basement.

"Okay, so, you hear that too, right? Josh?"

"What…?" He whispered in disbelief.

Sam shook her head. "The rhythm's like, weirdly regular..."

"Not, no, nothing 'regular' about it." Josh replied in a whisper.

Sam shuddered at that but then squared her shoulders and put on a brave face.

"I'm gonna check it out." She said as she began to move down the corridor.

Josh was startled by this. "What, why?"

"What do you care, fraidyface?"

"It's probably just like, not anything." He said.

Sam shook her head. "Why don't you hold down the fort while I make sure?"

"Okay, whatever you say, madam." Josh snarked back.

Sam continued down the corridor until suddenly a man wearing a hockey mask and a monks robe leapt out, roaring. Sam screamed and turned to run, Josh started and cried out.

"Whoa, Sam, whoa..."

Sam ran to him, pulling down a wooden pallet against the wall as she passed. Josh stood his ground until Sam just passed him and then ran too. They were so caught up in running they didn't see the man stumble over the pallet and pull his mask off, although the hood still hid his face.

Sam and Josh's attempts to flee were hindered suddenly when they encountered a locked door.

"Oh come ON now." Sam cried as she struggled with it. "Why are these doors locked!?"

Josh shook his head frantically. "To keep out strangers!"

He tried to cover Sam as she struggled to open the door. But it was no use, the monk caught up with them, Sam spun around and they pressed themselves back, against the door.

"Hey..." The monk said in a gravelly voice.

"What…?" Sam gasped.

"Heeyyyyy..."

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Sam choked out, her voice strangled from her earlier screaming.

The monk removed his hood and grinned as his identity was revealed.

"Boom!, you just got monked!"Chris announced triumphantly.

There was a stony silence before Josh burst out laughing and Sam looked outraged.

"WHAT!"

"Nice, nice one." Josh managed to say between laughs and he fist-bumped Chris. "That was good."

Sam spluttered, trying to get the words out, unable to believe what had just occurred. "Why w...why would you do that?"

"There's all this cool old movie crap down here." Chris explained. "What, was I...was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?"

"Are you, are you serious?" She shot back before turning to Josh and shoving his shoulder. "Were you in on this you putz?"

"Nope." Josh defended before admitted. "But I wish I was, that was too good!"

The two high-fived and Sam groaned before they all finally left the basement, Josh locking the door behind them before they made their way to the main room.

With a heavy sigh Sam glanced over at Chris.

"I'm ready to admit that your dumb little prank may have had a slight whiff of humor to it." She admitted.

Chris grinned in response. "Jokemaster!"

Shaking her head Sam responded. "I said nothing about jokes. I said your prank, which was dumb-"

"Holy crap, you were scared, admit it." Josh cut in with another laugh.

"I was not!"

Josh wouldn't let it go however. "Come on, you totally pissed yourself."

"Josh!"

Chris walked further ahead than the pair, to where Ashley was waiting. Sam stopped by the stairs going up, Josh followed Chris. Ashley took a moment to take in Chris wearing the monks robe.

"What..in God's name...are you wearing?" She asked at last.

Jokingly making the sign of the cross in front of her, Chris replied. "I found my true calling."

Clasping her hands together Ashley jokingly replied. "Please tell me you're going to take a vow of silence."

Chris continued to joke, pretending to speak inaudibly, making Ashley laugh.

"Okay, okay, did you at least find the...thingy?"

"Boi-oi-oi-oing!" Chris produced the appropriate sound effect as he pulled the Ouija board from his costume. "Here's our one way ticket to the spirit realm...!"

Ashley nodded and Sam sighed.

"You know what, you know what, No." She said. "I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball."

The others all nodded and Sam began to ascend the stairs.

She called back. "Alright? So have fun...! Oh but watch out for that Josh. He's a schemer!"

Josh just laughed and joins Chris and Ashley as they prepared to use the Ouija board, with Sam heading up for her bath at last.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	11. Chapter 10

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 10 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, it was sweet :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Chris grinned as he, Josh and Ashley sat together. They had pulled three wooden chairs over to a small table in one corner of the room, set up the spirit board and were now gathered around it.

Chris began to inform the others, taking some 'liberties' with his instructions. "So it says here: "to communicate with the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the Spirit-master," which is me-"

"It doesn't say that." Ashley scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Chris laughed shortly before jokingly adding. "And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion."

Josh groaned. "Chris, come on, this is serious."

"Oh I'm deadly serious."

Finally Ashley shook her head. "Oh shush it, let's try this."

"Yes, please." Josh added.

All three of them placed their hands on the board.

"Okay then." Chris conceded at last. "Let's see what happens. Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?"

Biting her lip, Ashley nodded as they all touched the pointer. "OK, um...Anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us...if you're there?"

There was a lengthy pause where nothing happened then, to their shock, the pointer began moving, guiding their hands.

They were startled and cried out in surprise and consternation.

"Wait a minute..." Chris gasped.

Josh practically choked his words out. "Did you do that?"

Ashley shook her head. "I didn't do anything!"

"It's moving again." Chris noted.

The pointer indeed began moving again, this time spelling out a word, starting with H. They continued talking over each other.

"What's it spelling?" Josh cried out.

"Hold on." Ashley whispered worriedly.

"How is this happening?"

Chris was still skeptical. "Are you moving it?"

Ashley shook her head vehemently. "I swear it's just moving."

There was a pause as it finished spelling the word.

"Holy shit..." Josh whispered in disbelief.

Ashley repeated the word, utterly taken aback. "Help?"

Chris shook his head. "How are we supposed to help?"

"I don't know." Ashley retorted. "What does it mean?"

Chris thought for a moment. "We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them."

Ashley nodded and asked. "Who are you...Ohh, here it goes-"

The pointer began moving again. They read out the word it spelled aloud, Josh reacting first, followed by Ashley and then Chris, before the cycle repeated.

"Okay, 'S'."

"I"

"S"

"T"

"E"

"R"

"Sister..." Ashley said breathlessly. "Sister?"

"Whose sister?" Josh asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Ashley and Chris shared a look, both clearly thinking the same thing.

Chris however still seemed a skeptic. "Oh come on, is this real?"

"Shut up." Josh snarled before insisting. "Ask it whose sister."

Ashley shifted uneasily.

Finally however she voiced her thoughts.

"Josh, it's...it's gotta be..." She couldn't finish, but she didn't need to.

Josh realized but was still intense as he shot back. "Yeah? OK, well, which sister is it then?"

Chris nodded slowly. "Ashley, ask who it is?"

Ashley shuddered, suddenly more afraid than ever. She considered for a moment before, finally, simply choosing at random.

"Who are we speaking to…? Beth…? Is that you?"

The pointer suddenly moved to 'Yes' on the board.

"Oh God." Ashley whimpered, freaked out.

Chris was even more edgy now. "This is messed up."

Worried Ashley immediately turned to Josh. "Josh, are you…?"

"I'm fine." He insisted.

"Are you sure because we can stop-" Ashley began to reply.

"No."

"Dude." Chris said softly. "It's cool..."

"I want to hear what it says." Josh explained, looking suddenly rather manic.

Ashley shook her head. "I don't know where to start."

They fell into a short silence, thinking. Finally Chris spoke up, a spark of interest in his eyes.

"Think about it." He said quietly. "If this is actually Beth, I mean, we can find out what happened that night."

"Oh...kay..." Ashley whispered nervously; already reliving her own dark memories of that night. "Let me think…"

Finally Ashley spoke again, voicing her question

"Beth...We want to know what happened to you that night. Can you tell us?"

The pointer began moving again.

Ashley spoke quickly, trying to keep up. "H-A-N-N..."

"It's spelling Hannah." Chris piped up.

But then Ashley realized. "Wait, it's still going."

"K-I-" Chris read.

Ashley continued. "L-L...Oh my god..."

The word finished, adding in 'E' and 'D'.

"Killed?" Josh exhaled. "Guys, guys what's she talking about?"

Ashley shook her head, sounding as if she was borderline to a breakdown. "I don't know if I can keep doing this..."

"We have to." Josh insisted.

There was an edgy silence.

Finally Chris seemed to make up his mind.

He spoke reassuringly to Ashley. "Just, just stay calm...I think it's saying that someone killed Hannah..."

"I don't know..." Ashley said shakily.

"I just..." Chris bit his lip. "Ask it something else!"

Ashley nodded, trying to regain her composure. "Okay, okay...How was Hannah killed?"

The pointer moved again, as Ashley read out, beginning to spell the word. 'L-I-B-'

Chris immediately caught on. "Library, maybe there's something in the library here..."

"P-R-O-O..." Ashley read out.

Chris again realized what was going on. "Proof, there's, there's…there's proof."

"In the library?" Ashley queried in disbelief.

Suddenly the spirit board shook and flipped the pointer clean off the table, making all three jump back.

"Watch out!" Josh cried out.

The other also cried out. The lengthy silence was broken by Josh, shakily getting to his feet.

"You know what, no, this is bullshit." He was almost growling. "This isn't real..."

"Josh, I don't know what's going on." Ashley insisted.

Josh glared. "Listen, I don't know... I don't know if you think messing with you is somehow going to help me with my grief or whatever but this is not cool."

He began to storm away.

"Josh no!" Ashley tried to explain, pointing out. "You wanted to use the spirit board."

"Hey calm down, it's not Ash's fault!" Chris tried to defend her.

Josh merely snarled at them. "I don't need this right now, okay?! You guys are full of it!"

With that he stalked away, heading down into the basement.

Ashley slumped in her seat, trembling.

' _This, this isn't...I never...Oh God...'_ Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

She was consumed with horror, that one horrible night, when her own feelings had been used against her. All because she had been so stupid, Hannah and Beth had been killed; her guilt came bubbling back to the surface.

Finally Chris spoke. "Ash, hey Ash."

She started. "Huh?"

"Don't, don't do this to yourself, it...it could've been you; none of us know what's really happened and no one is to blame, except whoever did this to them." He explained. "Listen I; I better go and talk to Josh. Do you think, you could check the library?"

She bit her lip but nodded. "Um yeah, yeah, I'll do that...Chris."

He had started to leave, but stopped as she spoke. "Hmm?"

"Thank you."

He smiled and nodded before heading down after Josh. Ashley meanwhile grabbed a candlestick with a lit candle nearby for light and began heading for the library. All the same, she couldn't help but keep playing what happened over and over in her head.

She tried to let Chris' words comfort her, but she still felt guilty, especially now.

Her trip the library was mostly uneventful, it was in the library itself that things started to get crazy as suddenly books flew off a nearby shelf, nearly hitting her.

"Ahh, what the hell?!" She cried out in shock.

But she quickly collected herself when she saw what had been behind them. A button, attached to the back wall of the bookcase.

Recalling every horror movie she had ever seen she edged nearer and pressed it, practically leaping back the moment she did. But all that happened was a secret panel amongst the bookcases opened up.

' _Okay, what the hell is going on here, this is like...a movie for God sake.'_ She thought as she stepped through the gap.

Inside all she found was a narrow area with a desk and on it, a portrait photo, of Hannah and Beth.

She gasped as she saw it. _'What is this, how did it...oh my God, no...'_

She had just turned it over and, on the other side, found a particularly chilling death threat. She knew right away she needed to tell the others, she quickly began to hurry back to the great room.

She stopped, confused when she reached it, it was still empty, but Josh couldn't have got that far away and she was sure if anyone could have convinced him to come back, it would be Chris.

"Chris, Josh!" She called out.

No answer, not a good sign.

Her heart was still pounding, just the thought of this got her all worked up and nervous. It would be her first time voluntarily approaching Sam this whole trip, but it was her only option. She put the candlestick down and hurried upstairs, towards the bathroom. She knocked on the door frantically.

"Sam, it's me, please...I need your help." She called through the door.

It opened swiftly and for a moment Ashley faltered, blushing bright red as Sam stood there.

"Ash?" She queried.

It was clear Sam hadn't quite finished getting ready for her bath, as she stood clad in her tights and a red lace edged bra, with the outline of presumably matching panties just visible under the tights.

"Sam, I need your help." She said quickly, trying not to stare at the sight before her. "I...I can't find Josh or Chris and, I found this, you have to see this."

She showed Sam the photo along with the message.

Sam gasped. "Uh, whoa, that's...Ash, how did you, what…?"

Ashley quickly explained everything and by the time she was finished Sam was staring, wide-eyed at her.

"Whoa, Ash, that's...alright, look, we need to, figure something out, I should...get dressed and...ASH!"

She cried out for at that moment a shadowy figure appeared, grabbing Ashley and clamping some sort of breathing apparatus over the girl's mouth and nose, a loud hissing could be heard, but before Sam could see anything else, the door was pulled shut, knocking her to the ground the process.

"Shit."

She leapt to her feet, acting solely on instinct, Ashley was in danger and she needed to save her.

She hurried to the door and managed to get it open, not even giving one thought to her state of dress. Outside she found Ashley, lying in a heap on the landing. Sam knelt next to her.

"Ashley..."

She then saw she was breathing and calmed slightly; she looked around for the attacker. But at that moment he struck again, she let out muffled cries as like Ashley she was gassed and soon slid into unconsciousness.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	12. Chapter 11

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Next chapter of my Until Dawn story, a slightly edited account of Mike's journey through the Sanatorium, a few things have been truncated while one scene has been changed, regarding the bear trap and finally an extra little scene has been added, with Mike making an unfortunate discovery.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, well, things aren't looking good true, but it's clear that things have already started, not just in regards to the actual killer, but other plans and actions could well be underway now.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Mike crouched by a wall, near the building he had seen. He ached all over from his constant running, the cold bit into his body and he was still trying to process what he has seen back in the mines, with Jess.

"Jesus." He muttered, ducking down before he was seen.

The stranger he had followed from the mines, the one he was sure was behind what happened to Jess, was walking up the path towards the building. Mike had heard growling and, peeking over the wall again, saw the stranger wasn't alone. Two wolves were with him, the stranger began to turn his head.

"Dammit." He muttered, ducking again.

He watched as the stranger seemed to close a door in the side of the building, before moving to the front of the building and entering.

"Alright..." Mike muttered to himself. "Let's get a closer look."

He grunted, trying to ignore the pain as he climbed over the wall, still carrying his lantern.

Walking towards the building his mind replayed those last horrifying moments again and again. _'Dammit Jess, I'm so sorry, I...I...I swear I will get this guy, he will pay for what he did to you.'_

He paused by the door; he wondered if he should risk it. Then decided to check what the stranger had been doing first, in case it offered an alternative. He soon figured out where he was when he came across a sign on the building, labelling it as condemned, yet also identifying it as a sanatorium.

"Awesome. Why wouldn't I end up on the creepiest place on planet earth?" Mike remarked sarcastically.

He reached where the Stranger had been and found a metal plate against the wall.

Grunting and muttering in exertion he pushed it aside to reveal, just as he had suspected, another entrance to the sanatorium, leading into the basement by the look of it. He carefully clambered in and jumped down to the floor before looking around.

"Dammit, alright..."

He knew he was going blind here, the lantern was his only light source and he had no idea of the layout of the building.

Still he continued onwards, searching the building as thoroughly as he could, there wasn't much room to move about, but he saw a hole in the ceiling, if he get up to the elevated path, he could then hopefully find something to use to climb through it, that would hopefully take him into the main building.

Careful searching turned up a barrel which he set the lantern on and, preparing himself, he began pushing it until it was in perfect position. Retrieving the lantern, he climbed onto the barrel and up onto the elevated path. He couldn't believe his luck when he found solid footing in the form of a broken machine on it's side, right underneath the hole.

He wasted no time climbing up and poking his head out of the hole, seeing his immediate surroundings.

"Whoa, that's different." He commented as he pulled himself up onto what appeared to be the main floor of the building.

The sanatorium was in complete disrepair, it was clear some parts of it had completely collapsed, there were fallen walls, Mike was certain some of the doors were busted. The only plus side he could see right now was he was out of the snow, away from the freezing cold.

It helped him focus his mind on his pursuit, his determination for vengeance. Knowing he had to start somewhere he approached the first door that didn't seem to be a dead end, apparently leading to the chapel, according to the sign.

Peeking through a window by the door he saw the stranger again, throwing something to the two wolves who began eating it.

"Whoa, what the…?" Mike whispered, praying it an old fashioned dog bone or animal meat and not human.

Trying the door he found, to his frustration, that it was locked, he needed a keycard of some sort. He peeked through again and saw the stranger was gone and the wolves were just leaving. Mike had no choice now, he'd have to search wherever he could, leaving no stone unturned, to find the keycard.

Turning away from the chapel he began his search in the very hall he was currently in.

All his search turned up here was administration notes to the sanatorium staff about the arrival of a group of miners who had been caught in a cave in at the mines, it was dated 1952 and Mike suddenly remembered the map he had found when he and Jess had passed through a section of the mines, detailed sections of the mine that were unstable.

The notes also mentioned that the press were being forced away from the building.

Mike couldn't deny he didn't like what he was discovering, what appeared to be a decades old cover-up. He continued his search however, all this could wait until he found that man and made him pay.

' _Gotta keep moving, c'mon, it's gotta be here somewhere.'_ He told himself.

His search through the current level of the Sanatorium was full however, of clues relating to the 1952 Mystery, many of them confusing or conflicting. Mystery was piling upon mystery here, Mike briefly considered that maybe, this stranger was looking into this 1952 mystery and these were clues he had gathered.

It appeared the sanatorium, which seemed the center of said mystery was also, conveniently, his base.

Shaking his head Mike reminded himself. _'But then, why attack Jess, what is he hiding, what is he up to?'_

Resuming his search for the keycard, Mike began heading down the corridor, towards what the signs indicated was the morgue, just what he needed to cheer himself up.

There were still a couple of offices, just before the steps leading down to the morgue, that were accessible, so Mike checked them first. In the first office he found an old newspaper detailed an assault on a reporter, suddenly making sense of the broken camera.

"Huh, intrigue on Blackwood Mountain." Mike mused.

It was clear now, something was definitely being hidden here, covered up, especially when the other office yielded medical reports that did not tally with Mike's findings so far, report on only twelve miners, not thirty, eighteen were unaccounted for.

Perplexed but by no means distracted Mike made his way down the steps towards the morgue. In the outer corridor he came across a partially open room, debris prevented him from actually entering but he could see a bird sitting on a table right by the door and embedded in said table was a machete.

' _Urgh, just great...well, I think I'm gonna need a weapon...better than nothing.'_ He told himself before reaching it.

The bird cawed and flew away while Mike was able to finally pull the machete free. Grimacing he stuck it in his belt and continued his search of the morgue itself. Noticing an odd shape behind a curtain he pulled aside to find a restraining chair, soaked in blood.

"Holy shit..." He gasped. "Ugh, what happened here?"

His continued exploration of the morgue offices and rooms led him to find another part of the 1952 mystery, in fact, most of his journey led him to various clues and hints that things weren't what they seemed and practically screamed cover up.

His search eventually led to another room, of which he could not identify the original purpose. Whatever the room used to be, it now only featured several tables and boxes and, strangely enough, a moving arm attached to a table, which jerked back and forth at irregular intervals.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa?" Mike spluttered, startled as he approached. "Is this what he was feeding them?"

He shuddered at that, had the wolves devoured human flesh. He then saw a note attached to the hand and reached out towards it when he stopped; something didn't feel right about this, whatever it was, it wasn't worth the risk, so he carefully stepped back and decided to instead resume his journey.

However he was lost, no idea where to go.

' _Okay, okay…let's see, gotta be something here...'_ He wondered. _'Ah-hah.'_

Luckily he got a hint as he approached one door, the temperature dropped. Mike recalled from the various crime dramas he sometimes saw that morgues had to be relatively cold places. It had to be through here.

Entering the morgue he was face to face with a strange, deformed but still human skull on a shelf.

' _This place just gets better and better.'_ He thought sarcastically.

Continuing his search he found, to his frustration that the door out was locked and required a keycard, the same keycard he needed for entering the chapel too.

He growled as he turned to survey the room again. _'You've gotta be kidding.'_

There was only one place he hadn't searched, three actually. Three body drawers, the only ones not rusted shut. Forcing himself Mike examined them, two brought out a name tag of a man named Nicholas Bowen, the second a death certificate for a Sarah Smith.

It was clear they were part of the 1952 mystery, especially the death certificate which seemed to indicate that Sarah had been partially...eaten, by something with very human teeth.

Opening the third drawer, Mike thought disgustedly to himself. _'Okay, is drawer number three the winner?'_

It was as inside was an uncovered body, Mike nearly threw up, especially when a rat climbed out of the corpse's mouth. Containing himself he was able to spot just what he needed, the chapel keycard, on the body. He picked it up and turned away gratefully.

He reached the locked door again, unlocked it and, taking the keycard with him, entered the next corridor, which appeared to be in the back part of the chapel. He began climbing the stairs when he was ambushed by one of the wolfs.

Crying out he ran for his life, the wolf right on his heels, growling and snapping at him.

With a mighty effort, Mike escaped the wolf, slamming shut the door behind him. Fighting desperately for breath, pretty sure he was going to give himself a heart attack at this rate, he realized was in the upper levels of the chapel and could see down below.

He needed to get back to the chapel's main door. So he followed the path and climbed down a fallen staircase.

"Oh, right, back in here." He muttered with relief.

He was back in the main entrance, steps away from the chapel main doors. He hurried over as best he could in his weakened state and opened them before entering.

Just then he heard the growl and turned sharply to his left, the other wolf was there, growling at him. On instinct, Mike almost lashed out, but then told himself not to, instead he stepped back, holding up his hands. The wolf growled, but in a less threatening manner.

"Okay...okay..." Mike said softly. "Easy boy, easy, easy...that's a good boy."

He gently reached edged to the side and the wolf let him pass, settling itself down on the floor. Mike let out a relieved sigh and began to examine the room, his first point of interest in the run down, rubble filled chapel was a wooden chest, filled with bones.

"Maybe this'll keep the wolves fat and happy." He said to himself, almost laughing in relief.

It seemed his earlier concern had been wrong. Taking one of the bones he approached the wolf and whistled, getting its attention. He held out the bone and the wolf slowly came closer before gently taking it from his hand, Mike stroked the wolf and smiled as the animal seemed much more friendly now.

One he finished patting the wolf, Mike resumed his search around the room, now no longer paranoid about being attacked from behind by the wolf. He spotted a cigar bow on a table in the middle of the room and recognized the brand from the cigar stub he had seen earlier that night.

' _Ahh... the stogie stash exposed.'_

Something else caught his eye, a wall that was covered in various newspaper clippings, all of them about strange disappearances and did not make Mike any happier about the man he was pursuing. But then something caught his eye, it was notes, about a strange man prowling the mountain; not the man he was pursuing.

' _God, there's two of them?'_ Mike wondered. _'Gotta be, that guy I saw...looks like these notes, are his, written by him...So who is this other guy...'_

As Mike read more however, he grew even more worried. From the sounds of it, this other guy was the bigger danger here, in fact, it was possible that _he_ was the one who attacked Jess and Mike ended up after the wrong guy.

He shuddered at that thought. _'Okay, deep breath Mikey, find this guy you're chasing, and get answers before you do anything...then you'll know.'_

He sighed, apart from those notes, things seemed to turn up fruitless. One thing he did benefit from his search was a slightly tattered olive green army jacket. Smirking he pulled it on, relieved for the extra heat it provided.

"So...what have we here?"

Through a gap in a mesh fence, just behind where the jacket hung, was a gun. Reaching in Mike tried to grab it but couldn't reach it.

"Come on!"

Shaking his head he instead reached lower, to a leg holding the shelf against the wall and, with a bit of effort, pulled it off, making the gun slide into his hand.

He smiled, he still had the machete, and now had a gun, now he felt he had a better chance. Approached the door at the back of the room, the only possible exit the stranger could have taken, Mike shot the lock and moved into the next room.

Searching this area unearthed only a large stone memorial to 'the miracle men' the twelve surviving miners, still with no mention of the missing eighteen. Following the large staircase downwards into an underground area, he found another gate blocking his path and several barrels.

"Of course it's locked." He muttered.

Shoving an empty barrel out of the way he took aim and fired, breaking the lock.

But his victory was short lived as he tried to go through the gate, for he then saw the fire. Some of the barrels will filled with flammable liquid, some had spilled onto the floor and the sparks from shooting the lock had ignited it. Seeing this he began to back off.

"Shit, shit, shit..." He cried out as he tried to flee. "URGH!"

He cried out as the small explosion occurred, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, so Mike's search through the Sanatorium is mostly unchanged, except in this one Mike keeps his fingers, also he's found out about the other human stalker on the mountain, but still...no knowledge of the Wendigos yet. Anyway, read and review please.


	13. Chapter 12

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 12 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Actually we won't learn much about him, save what he himself could reveal; as for how he survived, well, there's actually only ever been one Wendigo about during the whole time he was there, or did you forget what the Stranger did to the rest? That and pure luck. Anyway, glad you enjoyed :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Groaning as she regained consciousness, Sam sat up, trying to take in her surroundings.

' _Urgh, what the hell?'_ She found herself wondering as she shivered.

She grit her teeth, she was still clad in just her underwear and tights, no wonder it was cold. Looking around she got to her feet, it seemed she was in some sort of run down shed of sorts; but the darkness within the building made it hard to tell.

She shook her head. _'Dammit, that, that Psycho attacked me, he attacked Ash, where is she?'_

Immediately panic seized her and she began to look around, no sign of her, not that she could see very far. Walking slowly towards the only solid surface she could see, a table of sorts, she was relieved to see two things on it that would be beneficial to her.

A winter style coat and boots. Quickly pulling them on, savoring the warmth they provided; she looked around again.

With her head no longer spinning, she was beginning to piece things together. _'This has gotta be the shed outside the lodge, I need to...I need to get outta here, get back there, see if I can find what happened to Ash, and, and warn the others.'_

Her heart was hammering and she could scarcely believe the panic fizzing through her veins, just at the thought of Ashley being in danger. She couldn't help but wonder if Josh had a point, maybe there was more to the strange sensations she felt around the shy red haired girl after all.

She quickly shook her head. _'Not the time Sam, not the time.'_

She had to find out what happened and, if Ashley was in danger, she needed to rescue her.

Just then she heard what sounded like sobbing and recognized it.

"Ashley!" She cried out.

There was a stunned silence, then the girl replied. "Sam, is that you, oh God, Sam, please help!"  
S  
am tried to follow Ashley's voice, trying to find her. "Ash, what happened, where are you?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I...I've been tied up, I can't move..." Ashley replied frantically. "Please Sam, I'm scared."

Sam shook her head, she had to get Ashley out of this, just then the lights glared to life and Sam froze. She stared in horror at the sight before her, a mesh cage prevented him from getting any closer, there was a small gate set in the cage on her right hand side, but it was clearly locked.

Before her was a lever, in the middle position, it could be turned left or right. What disturbed her most was that on the panel behind the level, two pictures, of two very familiar people were shown. Looking up she saw Ashley and next to her, out cold, was Josh, they were attached to a large metal board, held up by their arms, secured in chains.

Beneath them was mine cart tracks which joined into a single track. What chilled Sam to the bone however was the mine cart itself, sitting at the end of this track, on it, situated so that it would be at waist height of the two captives, was a coldly gleaming circular saw.

"Unnghh...Sam..." Ashley spoke weakly, squinting against the light. "Are you there?"

Before Sam could respond another voice, distorted, spoke up, coming through speakers.

"Hello."

Ashley screamed and Sam jumped, looking around.

"And thank you all for joining me." It continued.

Freaking out now Ashley cried out to her fellow captive. "JOSH! Oh my GOD, JOSH WAKE UP!"

"Huh?" Josh groaned as her finally recovered, horror dawning as he realized his position. "What…? What is this?"

Acting frantically Sam tried to open the door, to force it, but to no avail.

Detached and casual, the distorted voice continued. "Tonight we're going to conduct a little experiment. A sort of test."

Just hearing those words struck fear into the hearts of all three of them.

Trying to struggle against his bonds Josh cried out.

"Ashley, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know…!" She screamed, totally freaking out.

Sam found herself breathing heavily, her heart thumping, terror coursing through her veins, what was going on.

"Now, for this experiment." The voice continued. "We'll need the cooperation of our two test subjects... Joshua and Ashley..."

"Holy shit, oh my god..." Josh gasped as he realized with dawning horror what that meant.

Ashley too realized and took another panic attack.

The voice then revealed the true horror of its plan. "But we're going to need more than one brave participant to help decide... which subject will live, and which will die."

"OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, Sam! GET US OUT OF HERE!" Ashley screamed, completely losing it.

Josh sadly wasn't much more composed himself. "NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! LET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU MANIAC!"

"Please, please, please, everyone calm down." The voice stated in a matter of fact tone. "It's all very simple."

Sam shook his head. _'Simple, what's fucking simple about this, psycho?'_

Sam realized then that this person had to be the masked man who had attacked her and Ashley earlier.

The psycho then gave his instructions.

"Samantha, you will find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do... is choose who you will save!"

Sam froze, this whack-job was forcing her to choose something so horrific, she had to kill either Ashley or Josh, in order to save the other.

Ashley broke into a blind panic again, just as she began recovering from the last time. "Oh no... please! This can't be happening...! Oh god oh god oh god...! This isn't right..."

"Shit... shit... no!" Josh cried out, before forcing himself to calm down. "Okay... okay... okay... okay, this is gonna be okay..."

Sam paced back and forth, panicking herself as the stress of what she had just been told hit her hard.

"Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap. Oh Crap." She muttered to herself frantically.

Then was a short pause then, suddenly, to her shock, Josh spoke, his voice surprisingly clam and clear.

"Sam, hey Sam, it...it's cool, okay." He paused, calm and clear, although his voice shook slightly. "Just, you know what to do, it'll be cool, just, remember what I said, yeah."

"JOSH NO!" Ashley cried out.

Sam almost choked hearing this. "I-I can't just..."

She was feeling dizzy from too much pressure. "Gimme a second, I, I can't think straight, shit..."

Josh however simply nodded again and Sam closed her eyes, took a deep breath and finally, made up her mind; or rather, listened to Josh and let him make the decision.

She looked up again and spoke.

"Ashley, I'll get you out of this, I won't let you die!" She cried.

Ashley's relief was palpable. "Oh God, thank go! Oh thank you, thank you!"

Josh nodded, although he looked sickly. "That's the way Sam, that's the way, it's cool, just...just get it over with."

Sam grimaced and, fighting back tears, she turned the lever and the saw blade started up, the tracks points switched and the cart began to slowly move.

She could only watch in horror, Ashley struggled frantically, still in a panic. Josh screwed his eyes shut and seemed to wait.

The Psycho spoke again, Sam could almost hear his grin. "Ah...I see. You have chosen...to save Ashley."

"Oh...Oh no..." Sam stammered, unable to believe she had to make such a choice and now watch the consequences. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

"OH GOD JOSH!" Ashley screamed, realizing what was about to happen.

Josh slowly opened his eyes and shook his head.

Before he screamed in agony as the saw started to cut him open.

Hearing Josh's screams Ashley continued to freak out, eyes clenched shut. "OH NO! MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH GOD, Sam! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Josh only stopped screaming once the saw finished its bloody work, and just like that, it was over. Ashley, now spattered across the left side of her face and clothes with the blood, began to turn her head.

Not wanting her to witness the horror that was nearly making her throw up, Sam spoke sharply. "No, no, no, D-don't look Ashley, don't look!"

"Why can't I look, Sam? Please tell me he's okay, please...!" Ashley pleaded, yet conceded to Sam' words, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

At that moment the gate opened and Sam rushed in.

She quickly got to work, trying hard not to look at Josh's corpse for longer than she had to.

"I'm coming Ash, gonna get you..." She said as she began untying her, she wept, either in terror or relief, or maybe both, he couldn't say. "Shhh – stop, please- Come on, come on, let's get you down... come on... we're gonna get you out of here…"

Ashley finally felt the ground beneath her feet and Sam began escorting her opened her eyes only to scream in dismay at the sight of Josh's mangled body.

Sam quickly covered her eyes and began escorting her, sobbing and shaking from the shed. They kept going, both in tears and both traumatized by what they had just been part of.

"Sam, Ashley!" They heard Matt's voice calling on them.

Looking up they spotted him and Emily, rushing over to them. Emily's eyes instantly widened when she got a good look at Ashley.

"Blood, Blood!" She gaped. "Whose blood is that Ash, Sam what happened?"

Matt was immediately worried, asking if they were okay.

"J-Josh..." Sam choked out through his tears.

Seeing their distress Matt bit his lip. "What about Josh?"

Sam shook her head and, doing her best to try and speak clearly, explained what happened, revealing the Psycho and what he had done.

Emily's words chilled them however. "Oh God, there's two of them?"

Ashley started; her fear of Emily momentarily forgotten. "What, two, what are you talking about?"

"There was another Psycho, chasing Matt and me, earlier, we came back to find and warn you guys. It can't be the same guy, what happened to you happened at roughly the same time."

Matt nodded and added. "Yeah and that guy was going away from the lodge."

Now even more worried they did the only thing they could do; coming up with a quick plan. So it was Matt and Emily quickly began hurrying to get help, while Sam and Ashley began to head back to the lodge to find Chris.

While worried about Mike and Jess, they were sure of Mike's strength and that he could protect Jess if danger came for them.

* * *

In the dark confines of the basement beneath the lodge, Chris looked around, amazed by what he had just found. He had been searching for Josh and, unable to find him, grabbed a nearby flashlight and begun to look in other areas of the basement, areas he knew from his previous trip through the lodge had been locked.

' _What is this place…?'_ He wondered to himself. _'This is getting way too freaky...'_

He shook his head, continuing his search. "Josh, hey Josh, can you hear me?!"

No answer, he pressed onwards, his journey had taken him through several corridors in the basement, where his chief obstacle had been a door that had no handle, said handle turning out to be hidden nearby. But now, now he could scarcely believe it.

He shook his head. _'Damn that still hurt.'_

He had found a door he needed to force open, only to fall through the opening and down a drop onto the floor, hard. Where he had ended up however was what shocked him. It was an old hotel, in complete disrepair and certainly had been hidden for a long time.

He couldn't fathom what it was doing under Josh's parents lodge, but that wasn't his chief concern for now.

"Josh!" He called out again; still no answer.

He was definitely starting to get worried for his friend.

What he soon found in his search of the underground hotel however, put even more worries on his mind, for he found some sort of strange den.

"Whoa, what the…?" He whispered in awe.

It was clear that someone had been here recently and, unlike the lodge itself, the electrics of this place were perfectly fine. He then saw monitors, showing various parts of the lodge, the whole place was being watched. Chris realized with growing concern that someone was spying on them. It was then he spotted something else.

' _Huh, this is...'_ He thought to himself as he picked it up. _'Josh's phone, but why would he…?'_

Before he could contemplate further, or attempt to read it, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and, despite his efforts to resist, was gassed into unconsciousness.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	14. Chapter 13

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 13 of my Until Dawn story, covers Matt and Emily's journey to the Fire Tower and is essentially the same as the novelization, except for the odd mention of the second mystery man here and there, along with another scene at the end, anyway, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks glad you enjoyed it; it's confirmed or hinted in game that for a good few years before the Prologue of the game, the only Wendigo prowling around was the one the Stranger killed in the Prologue after failing to save Hannah and Beth, that was the Alpha, the strongest, Wendigo, which would go on to possess Hannah. So the killer has only ever had to worry about one Wendigo, the others are, remember, all locked up, he's only been there for just over a year.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Emily and Matt walked together, mostly quiet, still processing everything that had been revealed to them.

"I can't believe Josh is dead." Emily said at last.

Matt sighed sadly. "I can't believe how he died..."

Emily shook her head however. "No, I mean, what if they were wrong?"

"What?"

She turned to him. "Maybe we should've checked the shed, to see if it was really true."

Matt grimaced at that.

"I don't know..." He replied hesitantly. "There are some things that, once you see them, you can never unsee them."

Emily sighed, shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I guess...But some things you have to see for yourself."

Matt shuddered. "I'll take their word for it."

Emily did not reply, apparently thinking that maybe Matt was right, or she just didn't want to press the matter further.

The duo approached the cable car station, only to note something odd, yet in a way, a blessing in disguise, what with there being a pair of psychos running around. An axe was lodged in the door to the cable car station.

"Look, an axe..." Matt saw it first. "I feel better with an axe."

Emily nodded, now they'd have a means to protect themselves. Matt pulled the axe from the door and Emily stepped forward to try and open it.

But to her surprise, it wouldn't open. "Oh what now? This is locked Matt!"

Matt sighed and shook his head.

"Well, break the door down will ya?"

Matt realized right away what she meant but knew the risks, he had to warn her.

He shook his head.

"Whoa, wait a second." He told her. "We start smashing shit down he's gonna hear us."

Emily rolled her eyes. "You got any better suggestions?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno, what about...look!"

He spotted it right away and when Emily questioned him he pointed it out, an ajar window.

"That's great Matt." Emily shot back, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot."

"No come on." He urged her.

She sighed and emphasized. "You will never fit through there, big guy."

Matt groaned but conceded her point and approached the door.

Okay fine. Here goes." He muttered. "I'm gonna huff, and I'm gonna-"

"Shhh! Just do it!"

Nodding Matt attempted to smash the door down with his axe, his second attempt caused the axe to stick and he had to wrench it free, the third blow however was successful and they entered the cable car station.

Emily turned on the lights and they froze, the station was devastated, trashed, and to top it all off, threatening graffiti adorned the walls.

"Oh, God damn..." was all Matt could manage.

Emily shook her head in disbelief, uttering in barely coherent form. "What happened?"

"This is crazy-"

"We were just here, like, a few hours ago." Emily burst out. "This must have just happened!"

Matt did not like this, not one bit. "What the fuck is going on?"

They continued to look around at the devastated cable car station.

Finally, Emily came to the only possible conclusion she could reach.

"It's gotta be the guy, the one who got to Chris and Ash...and Josh..."

Matt knew what this meant and shared his worry. "Or the other one, they've both gotta know this is the only way out."

"Oh, don't say that." Emily groaned, shivering in fear.

It was then Matt spotted the cable car, hanging a distance out from the station.

"Look, the cable car's all the way up there." He pointed it out.

Emily looked at it and bit her lip. "Well that's...I mean, that's not far right, you...you can jump it?"

Matt scoffed at that. "Ha, I'm good Em, but not that good...flattered though."

"Well Matt, if you can't jump that, what are we gonna do!?"

"I..I don't know." He replied honestly.

Emily looked around as Matt tried to find anything useful in the mess, both of them commented on the decrepit state of the station while Matt finally righted a map of the area, he spotted it.

"Hey, look, fire tower..." He pointed it out.

Emily however was more focused on other matters. "Hey. Magellan. Maybe we should get the cable car working and get this show on the road, huh?"

Matt sighed but nodded and, after being freaked out by graffiti of the word 'die' repeated over a whole wall, in paint that was disturbingly the same color as blood, Matt examined the control console and saw one great stumbling block.

The control console was still operable, but without the keys, it wasn't going to work.

"Great, no keys, no cable car. Sooo..." Matt muttered in frustration. "Back to square one."

Emily sighed but then her eyes widened. "What about the fire tower? On the map you found?"

Matt was a little taken aback. "Well, I guess it's an option..."

"Maybe it is has a radio or something." Emily replied hopefully. "I mean, it would, wouldn't it?"

Matt sighed and said. "I dunno, Em... that could work but I kinda think we should get back to the lodge for now, everyone's been split up for so long..."

"Wait. First you want to leave the lodge, now you want to go back?!" She queried incredulously before insisting. "You don't know what to do any more than I do Matt, and I say that we go to the fire tower and get on the radio and call for more help. And that's that."

Matt simply shook his head and shrugged. "Well, if you feel that strongly about it..."

"I do Matt, and I'm surprised you don't too!"

He insisted that he did, trying to defend himself and together they left the cable car station, looking for a way around. Emily spotted a way and tried to approach it, a ladder on the side of the building, but it was out of reach.

Smirking Matt joked. "What's cookin' good lookin?"

"Gettin' us out of here, Mister Meat for Brains." Emily shot back.

Laughing Matt helped Emily up to reach the ladder and they quickly climbed down it, now they could shimmy around a lower ledge of the cable car.

When they reached the bottom Emily noticed a heavy duty flashlight and picked it up.

"Look at this bad boy. You're comin' with me, buddy." She turned it on, grinning. "And just like magic. Come on, we can totally get out of here this way!"

They began to move around the side of the building, unfortunately, Emily misjudged the length of the ledge and nearly fell but Matt caught her just in time.

"Whoa, you alright?"

She gasped but nodded. "Yeah, uh...thanks, maybe um, you should go first. To protect me."

Smiling at Emily's attempt to maintain her usual persona, despite the obvious, Matt did so and soon they reached the other side, much to the relief of both of them.

"Okay...okay..." Matt breathed; finally letting the tension release from his muscles.

Emily let out a slow breath too. "Holy cannoli, thank god that's over."

Sighing they resumed their search, only to eventually find themselves standing by a clifftop, Matt grimaced, seeing it was a hell of a long way down. Shortly afterwards they were interrupted by an unusual screaming noise.

They both spun around.

"Matt, what is that!?" Emily cried out.

Matt shook his head. "I don't know!"

But he soon got his answer, for at that moment a horde of Caribou deer emerged and closed in on them, backing them to the edge of the cliff.

"Jesus!" Emily hissed through gritted teeth. "Shit!"

Matt glanced behind them, to the long drop. "Oh...damn..."

They were trapped. Panic gripping them, Matt and Emily stood warily at the edge of the cliff, the deer surrounded them, some moving a bit closer, but they couldn't move back any further.

"Matt…!" Emily cried out, terror coating her voice. "What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do!?"

Matt tightened his grip on the axe for a minute, but then relaxed it. He forced himself to stay calm and focused. He was always the first to admit he wasn't the smartest, but he knew enough about certain subjects, animals was one of them.

He knew if they stayed calm, they wouldn't be in any danger. "Stay calm... relax... they're just deer... they just want to check us out is all…"

"No, no, no Matt they're gonna hurt us-" Emily whimpered, not at all reassured.

He gently tried to calm her and, gesturing for her to follow his lead, he began to slowly, carefully, walk forwards. He kept the axe held loose, at his side, not in any threatening position. Emily moved slowly, eyes half-closed as she didn't want to see the herd closing in on her, but couldn't let Matt out of her sight.

After a long tense walk they made it through the heard and reached a small bundle of rocks they could climb. Quickly doing so, both Matt and Emily emerged safely from the herd, now on the path that would lead them to the radio tower, amazingly falling into place with their plans perfectly.

Letting out a sigh of relief, now they were finally out of that danger, Emily began to lead the way, holding the flashlight steady again. As they walked she began thinking carefully.

"If we do manage to get someone on the radio-"

"We will." Matt insisted.

Smiling at his confidence she continued. "Then, we tell them we need help. What do we do while we wait?"

Matt thought for a moment. "I guess, we go back to the lodge and get everyone else."

"Oh God, no the lodge." Emily shook her head. "We should stay here. In case whoever it is needs to get back in touch with us?"

"Let's get that radio working first."

Emily silently agreed with him, they'd try and call for help first, then they could worry about what to do next. They were almost at the tower, now it was just above them, across a small snowy clearing. As they approached the base of the tower, suddenly a blinding light flared to life.

"Ahh, that's freakin' bright!" Emily cried out, holding a hand in front of her eyes.

Matt did the same and grimaced. "No kidding!"

Emily shook her head, frustrated. "I can't see- what is that?"

"It's just a security light." Matt confirmed at last, squinting to try and see. "Motion sensor probably."

Emily bit her lip and followed Matt, squinting her eyes until they were past the light and could see clearly again. They were now at the base of the fire tower and would have to climb the ladders to get up to the main room.

* * *

Meanwhile, entering the lodge again Sam and Ashley looked around.

"God, where could Chris be, any ideas?" Sam asked.

Ashley shook her head. "I...I don't know; he might be looking for _us_."

Sam nodded, rather uncomfortable due to her attire, seeing a chance to kill two birds with one stone she turned to Ashley.

"Alright, Ash, listen." She said, again feeling that fluttering in her stomach and seeing Ashley immediately go doe-eyed, biting her lip. "Take a look around this floor, see if you can find Chris...I'll look upstairs and we'll meet up down here, if we haven't found any sign of him, we'll check the basement together okay."

"Um, sure, yeah." Ashley replied, nodding.

Smiling Sam quickly found two flashlights and handed one to Ashley before heading upstairs. While Ashley searched downstairs, Sam searched upstairs, stopping in the bathroom.

' _Well, no sign of Chris, or my old clothes...but my bag is still here?'_ She thought perplexed.

Taking the opportunity however she quickly removed the jacket and boots she had pulled on, along with her tights and opened her bag, pulling out fresh clothes.

Before long she had redressed in a simple white shirt, a red hooded jacket, gray yoga pants and simple sneakers, a head torch was also part of the outfit, although she kept this slung around her neck for now.

Satisfied she immediately got to work, resuming her search for Chris.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	15. Chapter 14

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 14 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, here we go.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, things are getting real now, we can only wait and see, remember, Josh and the Wendigo's aren't the only issue.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Pain was all Jess could feel as she slowly felt herself waking up.

' _Urgh, oww, my head, my, my body...everything hurts.'_ Her thoughts raced. _'Oh God, wait, what...'_

Her memory came rushing back as she remembered what had happened, horror gripped her and her eyes shot open, it was then several things became clear with horrible clarity.

"MMMM MMMMMMMMM!" She cried out, her eyes widening in horror.

She was gagged, tied to a chair and helpless; she was in just in her undergarments, in some kind of underground den. At once, fear set in as she looked around desperately; she tried to struggle, but the straps held firm, she merely made her pain worse.

' _Fuck, shit, I can't...urgh...'_

She briefly noted that what injuries she could see seemed to have been cleaned up, someone had performed basic first aid, but no more.

"Ah, you're awake dear girl." A dark voice got her attention.

She looked up and froze. "NNN!?"

It was him, the man she saw snooping around the cabin, who had been stalking her on the path to it. She could only watch in fear as he approached her, a knife in his hand.

"I'm glad to see you awake, I have, so much in store for you." He remarked. "But let us make you more comfortable first."

Jess' mind went into overdrive and so many fears hit her as the man suddenly, effortlessly, cut her bra off, exposing her breasts to the cold air; her nipples instantly going hard and erect.

The man laughed. "Ah excellent, quite the sight, I will enjoy this...I'm not done yet, but first, we can't have you suffer alone."

With that he left, leaving Jess now having to add humiliation to her list of overactive emotions; her fear too as it was clear, he was seeking another victim, the empty chair a couple of feet in front of her now felt more menacing than ever.

* * *

Looking up at the ladders leading up to the Fire Tower, it was clear it would be difficult to grip the ladder.

Seeing this Matt, reluctantly, put down the axe and they began their climb, with Emily in the lead; only just managing to hold on to her flashlight.

Climbing up the second ladder, Emily was caught off guard by sudden winds and nearly lost her grip.

"Ugh." She grit her teeth and complained. "Why is it so windy all of a sudden?"

Matt did his best to calm her. "We're almost inside."

They climbed the third ladder, finally reaching their destination, once Emily pushed up the hatch they got inside, with Matt closing and locking the hatch below them. They were sill wary of the Psycho following them and Matt hoped it would present at least something of an obstacle.

"You alright?" He asked Emily.

She nodded, they were inside now, it was a bit warmer and she knew what Matt had just done and why. "Yeah."

They began to look around the tower room. Finding the radio Emily tried to interact with it, but got nothing.

"Ah come ON! Great." She cried out before realizing. "No power. Gotta be a switch or something round here..."

While looking she found a locker and opened it, freezing when she saw, stuck to the door, a missing persons poster, for Hannah Washington.

She sighed sadly; guilt bubbling inside her. "Sorry Hannah, you're still missing..."

"After tonight their disappearance is starting to make more sense." Matt commented.

Emily couldn't deny, he was right, although it made her feel very uneasy.

Resuming their search they had no choice but to venture outside, into the catwalk around the tower room.

Exiting through the door once they opened it, Emily searched and then spotted something, it was a box, situated against the wall, with the words 'Emergency Flare' on it. She opened it to find, inside, a flare gun.

"Ah, here we go." She thought; this could certainly be useful.

She thought for a moment and decided it would be better off in Matt's hands.

"You take this." She told him, handing him the gun. "Might need it."

Matt took it, smiling as he replied. "Aye-aye captain."

He pocketed the gun and they resumed their search. Finally they found a fuse box, Emily opened it and flicked the switch and grinned as the power flared to life in the tower.

"Fuck yeah, here we go!"

"Nice work." Matt replied; also grinning.

They headed back inside with Emily adding. "Okay, score one for Matt and Emily."

As they closed the door behind them, Emily jostled a printer on a nearby table, hitting the print button which prompted it to print out a single sheet.

Picking it up she remarked. "Oh, it's alive."

Turning it over she was consumed with guilt again, a missing persons poster for Beth Washington.

"Sorry you're still missing too, Beth."

Matt gently set the paper down, touching Emily's shoulder to reassure her. Nodding she composed herself and approached the radio.

She got to work, trying to fine tune the radio to pick up any broadcasts that they could communicate with for help. She gasped as she heard one, although it wasn't very clear.

"ranger service for Blackwood County. Over."

"Hello?" Anyone there?" She tried, hoping she could get through, she had found just who they were looking for, the people best equipped to help them. "Hello! Please say something if you're out there, please we need help! Over! Over! Shit."

There was a pause and then, suddenly.

"...Hello?" The ranger spoke.

Emily's heart leapt and Matt grinned beside her. "Oh my god, thank go, we need help, please!"

The ranger replied and it was clear that he had at least picked something up from them. "...Hello is someone trying to contact us? This is the park ranger service for Blackwood County. I'm not getting your signal very well. Please speak slowly and clearly, over."

Emily tired to but she was too worked up, everything came spilling out. "Please, please, please, please help! Oh my god, we're stuck on Blackwood mountain and there's a maniac..."

"If you can hear this, please repeat your message as I am unable to understand what you are saying, over. "

Emily grew more desperate. "We need help, please!"

The ranger continued however. "Hello? Can you please identify yourself? Over."

Emily took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She needed to do this right or they'd miss their chance.

So, trying to hard to maintain her self-control, she did as the ranger requested.

"Oh my god." She whispered before speaking slowly and clearly. "Okay, this is...My name is Emily...hello?"

She checked the tuning on the radio as the ranger replied.

"You're not coming through clearly, please repeat, over."

She shook her head and tried to explain, as calmly as possible, what had happened.

So, she cleared her throat and explained. "We're on... Blackwood Mountain... by the ski lodge... there's a killer and he's after us and he's already killed one of our friends. Oh god, please help, you've got to help us!"

Just then, the security light below flared to life again, startling them both.

"Something tripped the motion sensor." Matt muttered, before trying to reassure Emily. "Probably a fucking deer."

Emily was about to reply when the ranger spoke again.

"I read you ma'am, please do not leave your position."

Emily and Matt both grinned and relaxed, until his next words.

"We will send out helicopters to get you as soon as the storm has subsided, over." The ranger explained.

Sharing a worried look with Matt Emily tried to get clarification.

She asked intently. "What, when, how long?"

The ranger hesitated before replying. "Dawn, at the earliest. Not until dawn, over."

Before they could say anything else, the hatch banged loudly, someone, or something was trying to enter.

"Jesus!" Matt cried out, stepping back.

Emily backed herself into one of the corners, panicking.

"Oh my god, he's here, he's coming for me!" She cried out.

The hanging then stopped and things seemed to calm down, until the tower rocked violently and began tipping.

Emily screamed and Matt cried out, both of them stumbling as the tower sagged and rocked again.

"OH MY GOD, MATT, WHAT IS HAPPENED!" She screamed in raw terror.

Matt could only cry out. "The tower!"

At the same time, Emily yelled. "Oh God!"

The tower began to fall, Matt tried to reach for Emily but was unable to do so.

Finally the tower lay on its side, Emily had fallen and landed hard on one of the windows which had cracked badly, she was now sporting a bloody nose and a scratch on her forehead from the impact.

Matt meanwhile was hanging from a support beam, clutching it for dear life.

"No..." Emily got out through the pain.

Matt then saw something and cried out. "No, Emily, Emily!"

She managed to turn, just enough to see what he saw, the printer was about to fall right on top of her.

Crying out she tried to roll out of the way but was hit, she felt the pain and blood as a gash opened up above her left eyebrow, curving around and down over her temple slightly.

As she tried to recover the radio also fell and she screamed as she fell through the window, now hanging onto one of the catwalk bars.

"Fuck me, Jesus shit!" She cried out. "Shit, ahh, no, don't, no!"

She barely had time to articulate as Matt also cried out. "OH SHIT!"

As the tower fell more and tumbled down, into the mines below.

* * *

"Oh fuck!"

Those were the first words out of Matt's mouth as he finally recovered, the tower had fallen and was now only just hanging, they were underground, in the mines that ran under the mountain.

Moving slowly and carefully, climbing his way out the tower which shook ominously as he did so, Matt saw the tower was hanging precariously over a long drop; almost certainly too far to have good survival chances.

"Oh fuck...dammit, dammit!" He muttered.

"MAAATTT!" Emily suddenly screamed. "OH GOD MATT HELP ME PLEAAAAASE!"

Startled he moved carefully, calling out as he did so. "I'm comin'! I'm comin'! Em, this is pretty unsteady over here…"

He said it as a warning, for he now stood, looking over the edge of the tower, which was shaking some more. Emily was there, hanging onto the bars, desperate and clearly terrified.

"Matt, you've got to do something right NOW!" She screamed. "What are you WAITING FOR!?"

He shook his head. "I'm thinking, let me think!"

She grit her teeth and screamed again. "Don't think you idiot, just get me outta here!"

Matt shook his head, even while hanging precariously from a fallen radio tower, close to death, Emily still had her sharp tongue and bitchy attitude. Directed at him, the only person who had even the smallest chance of saving her, no less.

Nevertheless, he could understand the tension of this situation.

His concern for her overrode anything else. "I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, stop talking I can't take it!"

"Emily, you're upset, you need to calm down, you're gonna be fine." He told her. "Stop, yelling at me and let me work this out, okay?"

Emily bit her lip, trying to calm down.

She knew she had no reason to be so worked up at Matt, he had trusted her back when they were just arriving, despite what she had actually done; going and flirting with Mike.

Something which left her feeling guilty, especially when he stood up for her against Jessica at the lodge.

"Yeah, you just take all the time you need." She replied at last; her voice softer; but she couldn't resist the sarcasm. "Not like I'm going anywhere."

Smiling a little at that, Matt nodded and tested his weight carefully on the tower; it seemed to be holding for now.

"I'm gonna try and get to you and pull you up." He said at last.

With a gasp of relief she shot back. "Now will you please get me off this goddamned tower?! Please please please, Matt! Just do something!"

Matt knew he had to save her, and so began to cautiously edge closer to the ledge Emily was hanging from.

He reached out for her.

"I'm coming...here...ugh!"

Emily screamed and Matt forced himself upright as the tower shook again, falling down a bit, nearly coming completely off the rocks which were now the only thing holding it up.

"Shit, oh shit!" She cried. "Matt!"

She had fallen and grabbed onto another railing, only now, it was the last one, another fall and she wouldn't have anything to save herself with.

Matt panicked, trying to equalize his weight. "I don't wanna tip it."

All the same, he couldn't leave her hanging there.

"Oh...come on, come on..." He muttered as he tried again.

He moved slowly and soon was lying, ready to reach out. Emily looked up at him.

"Jesus!" She hissed, pleadingly.

She reached up for his hand, praying that he could save her.

To her relief, Matt's hand closed around hers, but then the tower shook, it was going to fall.

"Oh fuck, Matt!"

He growled and pulled her up quickly, the tower was already collapsing beneath them.

"This way!" He cried out.

He grabbed hold of her and practically lifted her off the ground and he ran and leapt from the tower, just in time, onto a nearby outcrop.

They landed heavily, Matt having turned to ensure Emily at least had a softer landing, namely on him. The tower fell into the depths below, while Matt helped Emily to her feet, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't want to imagine what she looked liked just now, she could feel the pain from various injuries and could only imagine how they'd look, or how bad they were.

She and Matt both turned, looking over the ledge at the long drop they had just narrowly escaped. Before either of them could say anything however, Emily felt someone or something grab her and, after only getting out a short scream, something slammed into the back of her head and everything went black.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	16. Chapter 15

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 15 of my Until Dawn story, here we come to the first death in the story, be warned.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Indeed, in fact, he's already started as you saw by the end; well, here's the result.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

Matt gasped in horror as Emily collapsed to the ground, he spun around and there was the man who had stalked him and Emily earlier.

"Well, well, fancy running into you here." He remarked with savage glee, leering down at Emily. "Thank you, for making my task so much easier."

Matt, fully enraged, simply reacted. "Son of a bitch!"

The man turned his attention to Matt, just as Matt practically launched himself at the assailant. With a short cry the man stumbled back, reeling from the blow of Matt's fist.

Unfortunately he still held the wooden plank he had used to strike Emily and knock her out and as Matt landed and second blow, then a third, he struck back, catching Matt in the side, making him grunt.

"Stupid boy. Get out of my way." He growled.

He lashed out again and stuck at Matt; but this time, Matt was able to grab the plank and yanked it out of the man's hands. He then tackled the man to the ground and struck out at him again.

"Asshole, I'm gonna…!" He cried out.

The man caught Matt's foot and knocked him down again. "I'm getting tired of your interference!"

Matt continued to fight back however, but then the man took his chance and Matt screamed in terror and dismay as a well-aimed kick sent him over the edge of the outcrop, falling to his death on the rocks a long, long way below.

Fighting to catch his breath, the killer smirked; he was one obstacle down and now had the girl he had been seeking before.

' _Perfect, the other two can wait...time to have my fun...Let's get this lady all ready.'_ He thought to himself.

He turned to Emily and sat her up before casually removing her jacket and the ribbed long sleeved top she wore over her white blouse, he didn't want them getting in the way.

Callously discarding them over the ledge he had just thrown her boyfriend down the man picked Emily up and slung her over his shoulder, keeping an arm wrapped around her thighs, he headed down the tunnel he had entered from, having seen them leap to the ledge as he was passing.

He had her now, it was time to go back to his lair. As he walked he contemplated his other victim, the blonde girl, now clad in nothing but her panties, he could hardly wait to get started, soon both of them would serve their purposes and he would get his enjoyment.

* * *

Returning to his lair he proudly announced.

"Well, look, my other toy has arrived, now we can begin."

"MM MMM MMMMMMMM!" The captive blonde screamed, he loved that sound.

Jess stated in terror as the man returned, even more so when she saw he was carrying another person with him, another girl, another captive to share in the torment. She couldn't stop trembling, her face was scarlet due to her massively exposed state, she thought things couldn't get any worse.

Then her kidnapper set his new victim down in the chair opposite her and began strapping her in, just as Jess herself was.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Jess screamed in horror and dismay. _'Emily, oh God no...'_

She could only watch, helpless as Emily was soon secured, just as she was, only with more clothes on and without a gag.

Grinning the man nodded to her. "I thought you'd like that, I remember seeing you all arriving, how does it feel, knowing you're both going to be together for this little...game."

Laughing he left and Jess could only watch in dismay.

* * *

Groaning Emily felt herself waking up; suddenly recalling what had happened just before she blacked out she felt the pain in the back of her head, as well as on her face, she was hurt, but thankfully not seriously.

"What the, huh, what the fuck!?" She began, crying out as she found she couldn't move.

"MMMMMMM!"

Her eyes widened as she took stalk of her situation and her horror grew.

She in a strange underground room, she had lost her jacket and sweater, she was strapped to a chair and unable to escape. Not only that, she wasn't alone, sitting opposite her, wearing only her panties and looking terrible, as well as badly injured, was Jess.

"Oh my God, Jess?" Emily gasped, unable to believe it. _'Wait, if she's here, what happened to Mike, wait, Matt...Where's Matt?'_

Her panic began to grow, especially as she saw very little in the room that was reassuring or friendly.

Jess whimpered into her gag, sobbing uncontrollably, tears running down her face.

Emily grit her teeth. _'Shit, this is bad, God look at her, this isn't...urgh, no matter what happened before this isn't the time for that.'_

Trying hard to stay strong; Emily took a deep breath, looking at Jess.

"Jess, just, keep it together, okay. Stay with me." She said as steadily as she could.

Jess looked at her, her gaze unfocused and confused.

Emily just continued. "Listen, we need to keep it together, I don't know what's going on, but we need to get out of this. We can't do that if we freak out, okay."

Jess whimpered again, but nodded. Emily wished she could do something about Jess' gag, it would be so much easier to plan something if they could actually talk to each other.

Just then she heard the laughter and looked around wildly; she then saw him the man who had been stalking her.

"Fuck, get away!"

He just laughed again. "Oh now, that's not nice dear girl, you see, apart from our dear friend here..."

He trailed off leering at Jess before suddenly groping the poor girl's exposed breasts, making her scream.

Emily growled and struggled. "Get off her!"

The man let go and approached her.

"Oh such a temper, you should really, save your energy." He taunted as he then started groping her instead. "You'll need it for when I begin."

Emily growled. "Fuck you, get the fuck off me!"

Shaking his head the man shrugged. "So be it, we'll just get right to it then...I'm going to enjoy this, let's see...where should I begin."

With that he approached a covered table in the corner of the room and pulled the cover off, revealing several tools all of which he intended only one purpose, harm.

Emily's blood ran cold as she realized the horrific truth, the man planned to kill them both, but not without torturing them first.

* * *

End of chapter, now things take a darker turn, read and review please.


	17. Chapter 16

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 16 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and yeah.  
thedarkpokemaster: Things haven't even started with that guy, just wait.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Coming down the stairs, Sam found Ashley pacing back and forth at the foot of the staircase.

"Did you find Chris?" She asked quickly.

Sam shook her head sadly. "No, nothing...What about you?"

Ashley looked panicked. "I couldn't see him anywhere either, so, um, what are we…?"

"We'll have to check the basement." Sam said at last.

Ashley felt hesitant, scared even, she hated the basement here, it was always so spooky, even at the best of times. But right now she didn't want to imagine how it would be. But she swallowed back her fear and nodded in agreement.

As they began to walk around to the stairs going down, a candle on the sideboard next to them flared to life, making Ashley jump.

"Did that just happen." She gasped in fear.

Sam bit her lip. "Easy Ash, easy, just...keep it together, we'll get through this."

She nodded, shuddering slightly, following Sam down the stairs, continuing their search for Chris.

"Sam..." Ashley said sadly. "About what happened in the shed, I...I know it was hard, you and Josh were friends and..."

Sam shook her head. "Ash, please, I...I don't wanna think about it, but I, I couldn't let anything happen to you."

Ashley felt rather warm hearing that and nodded. "I...thank you."

Sam managed a small shaky smile, just hearing that.

Things were definitely still awkward between the two girls; but they tried to push past it and focus on finding Chris.

Thinking on that Ashley bit her lip as they entered the now open cinema room.

"Sam; I just realized; what are we, what are we gonna say to Chris?"

Sam stopped. "Oh fuck, you're right...shit, he and Josh were best friends, oh God..."

Ashley was shocked by what she was seeing, Sam was clearly close to freaking out, guilt consuming her features.

She realized right away what was going on. "Sam, please, don't..."

"I...I just..." Sam stammered before taking a deep breath. "Right, right, okay. You're right Ash, I, I'm sorry I just."

She didn't need to finish Ashley understood Sam blamed herself entirely for what happened to Josh; but Ashley knew full well it was that psycho's fault. Their search soon came to a worrying stop, as they found a locked door that they couldn't get open.

"Shit, now what?" Sam muttered.

Trying to peer through the keyhole Ashley shook her head. "I can't see anything, the key must be in the lock, but on the other side."

Sam nodded slowly at that, looking around, then she saw it.

There was a hole in the wall, high up and to the right of the door.

"Ash, look, there's a way." She said, quickly unzipping her red hooded top and removing it. "Give me a boost up and I'll climb through."

Again, Ashley felt that fluttering at making physical contact with Sam, but she pushed it down. She nodded and got into position and quickly helped Sam climb up and reach it. Sam grit her teeth, even without her hooded top the hole was still narrow and a bit of a tight fit. She pulled herself through however and dropped down on the other side.

' _Ow, man, that hurt a little.'_ She thought, shaking her head.

She now had scrapes on her elbows and knees, she quickly fixed her yoga pants to cover her scraped knees, there was nothing she could do for her elbows right now. Focusing again she hurried to the door and unlocked it before opening the door. Ashley stood there, holding her top.

"Sam, oh...jeez." She gasped, seeing her.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, it's alright, thanks."

Taking her top back and pulling it on, they began continuing their search. They were shocked when they found themselves in what seemed to be an old abandoned hotel; underneath the lodge.

"What is this…?" Ashley gasped.

Sam shook her head. "No idea, but this, this is the only place we've not searched yet."

They continued onwards. They had reached another locked door, with no way to climb through it.

"Ah, shit, not again, the key's in the lock again and we can't get to it this time." Sam muttered.

Looking around, Ashley searched for anything that could help them.

Her eyes then saw it, ideas suddenly came into her head.

"Wait, Sam, I got it; this is an old trick, but it just might work." She said suddenly.

Sam turned to her and shook her head. "Whatever it is, I love it."

Ashley quickly gathered what she needed and knelt down in front of the lock, she carefully slipped a sheet of newspaper under the gap below the door, leaving enough sticking out to grab onto.

Using a pencil she carefully managed to push the key out of the lock and it fell onto the newspaper. Gently pulling the newspaper out, they found the key on the paper. Smiling she retrieved it, Sam grinned too.

"Nice work."

Feeling her face heat up just by Sam's words; Ashley just nodded and unlocked the door. They hurried onwards, searching desperately for Chris; it was then they reached what looked like a large, heavy set of double doors.

Sharing a worried look they pushed the doors opened and slipped inside. The room was pretty dark, but their flashlights gave them enough light to see Chris, lying on the ground, tied up.

"Oh God, Chris?" Ashley whispered.

Carefully approaching him, Sam bit her lip. "We gotta get him out of here, help me out..."

She nodded and began to approach when they heard and unfortunately familiar distorted laugh. Then suddenly a tall man wearing a dark jumpsuit and a horror clown mask appeared from the shadows and grabbed Sam, the same man who had attacked them before.

Ashley cried out and, watching the struggle ensue, she hurried to try and help, reacting to Ashley's sudden interference, the man yelled and threw Sam aside, knocking her into a collection of shelves which fell on top of her.

"Sam!"

She cried out. "Ash, run!"

Ashley stepped back trying to avoid the man only to catch her foot on the uneven floor and fell to the ground with a cry as wrenching pain lanced through her leg; she had certainly twisted her ankle.

At that moment Sam managed to emerge from the wreckage, covered in cuts and the beginnings of bruises.

"Get off her!" She cried out, trying to come to Ashley's defense.

With a laugh, the man turned and, before Sam could react, the man used the same gas canister to grab Sam and gas her to sleep.

"SAM!"

Reacting at once, Ashley grabbed the nearest thing she could as she struggled to her feet, Sam was now out cold and the Psycho was coming for her. Lashing out she found that she had grabbed a pair of scissors and had stabbed the Psycho in the shoulder.

He cried out and then, lashing out himself, punched her in the face, right in the left eye, knocking her out cold. With a short laugh, the Psycho lifted Ashley up, slung her over his shoulder and then grabbed Sam by the wrists and dragged her away, still carrying Ashley as he took them from the room.

* * *

Chris looked around worriedly; he recalled how he had been searching for Josh, shocked by the things he was finding when suddenly he was ambushed and knocked out. Now he was tied up, in some sort of storeroom.

"Chris, hey, Chris." He heard someone whisper-shouting.

Looking around he spotted a grate near the floor, and through it, he saw a familiar and welcome face.

"Mike, jeez..." He gasped.

Mike shook his head. "Get over here, quick."

Nodding Chris moved as quickly as he could and soon he was by the grate. Before long he was freed.

Letting out a sigh of relief Chris spoke again. "Mike, thank God, this is..."

"Crazy, yeah, it looks like there's...at least two whackjob's on this mountain, wait till you hear this. Mike replied.

He wasted no time in explaining to Chris was he had found, Chris was shocked by what he heard, especially as he then revealed the truth, about what he had found.

"Fuck, what the fuck is going on around here?" Mike muttered. "Listen, there's a door here, I can't get it open, think you can get it open from your side?"

Chris nodded and stood up, looking around, finding a door that was thankfully unlocked he was in a dilapidated hall. A door that corresponded to the room Mike was in was visible, blocked by a wooden beam. Acting at once, Chris hurried over and managed to lift the beam before opening the door.

Mike hurried through and let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, we're here, a little banged up, but we're fine...Anyone else around?"

Chris shook his head. "I don't know; I was looking for Josh, can't find him anywhere, no idea what happened to Sam and Ash..."

Mike sighed. "We've not seen Matt or Emily either and, Jess...Jess is..."

Chris grimaced but before he could say anything they heard screaming from the next room, screaming that sounded very familiar.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	18. Chapter 17

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 17 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, well, we can only wait and see, after all, the real threat hasn't made itself properly known yet.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

With a groan Sam felt herself waking up, as she recovered she silently cursed, angry, at not just the Psycho, but herself.

' _That's the second time he's knocked me out, God, what is wrong with me, I should...'_ She thought, trailing off as she took note of her situation.

She was in a darkened room, seated on a chair, or more accurately, tried to a chair. Her wrists and ankles were bound to it, leaving her helpless. Which made the table in front of her a chilling sight, for on it was a gun. Then she heard the soft moans and looked straight ahead.

"Ash!"

Ashley was here too, also tied to a chair, directly opposite her, on the other side of the table. But there was a notable difference between them, for some reason, Ashley's right hand was free.

Hearing Sam's voice, Ashley lifted her head and Sam gasped in horror at the sight of the heavy bruising around Ashley's left eye.

"Oh my God, Ash..." She whispered. "What happened?

Ashley grimaced and shook her head. "I...He, punched me in the face."

Sam growled. "Shit, bastard, I oughta..."

"Sam, what is this?"

Sam shook her head. Ashley had noticed her free hand and tried to untie herself, but grew frustrated when she couldn't reach the knots.

Before either of them could speak, they heard a loud and horrifyingly familiar noise. Looking up panic seized both girls as they saw above them two circular saws, spinning rapidly as they slowly but inexorably descended down towards their heads.

"Oh fuck, no!" Sam cried out and struggled; her bonds wouldn't give however.

Ashley struggled too, but even her free hand didn't give her any leverage.

"Hello, my special little subjects." The distorted voice of the Psycho spoke.

Ashley grimaced again, looking petrified. "Oh god no...Sam..."

Sam shook her head. "It's okay Ash, it's gonna be okay, we'll, no need to be scared, we..."

"Oh, no, you both better be scared. You see, Samantha, you already made a fatal choice today." The Psycho mocked them. "Now...it's Ashley's turn."

They both tensed and Ashley felt her heart hammered as her thoughts went into overdrive.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God..."

"Ashley..." The Psycho continued. "You can pick up that gun on the table in front of you and shoot yourself...or you can shoot Sam. Whoever is left, will be allowed to go free, understand?"

Both girls froze in shock as the full implications of what was just revealed hit them. Despite her own terror, her panic, and the fact that just the very thought of death left her cold, Ashley immediately knew what she had to do, she couldn't, wouldn't make any other choice.

Immediately, the deciding factor came in the form of her feelings for Sam, all coming to the surface.

Without any hesitation, apart from a brief glance up at the slowly descending saw blades, Ashley grabbed the gun and immediately brought it up to her own head.

"Wait, Ash, no!" Sam cried. "What are you doing? Don't!"

Ashley shook her head, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "It's the only way Sam, you...you have a much better chance at getting through this than me...I'm sorry."

Sam was frantic and struggled again. "Please, Ashley, don't do this, it should be me!"

"Sam, I..." Ashley knew she had no more time, no time for doubts, feeling braver than she ever felt in her life, she spoke. "What happened last year; may have given you all the hint you need but its true...I love you Sam, I have for years. That's why I'd gladly give my life, for yours...Just please, don't forget me."

Sam let out a choked gasp at that, her own tears forming. "Ashley, I...I feel the same, but please, there must be another way."

"I'm really sorry."

With that Ashley pulled the trigger and Sam screamed.

Mere moments later the door burst open and to Sam's shock, Mike and Chris busted in, both looked a little worse for wear, but definitely alive. The saws had stopped but before Sam could even begin to mourn, she heard Ashley groan.

"Ash?"

Slowly lifting her head, Ashley looked around, bewildered. "What the...huh, but I…?"

It was then they saw him emerge from the shadows, the Psycho, he approached them, his stride slow and menacing.

"No, get away!" Ashley cried out.

Seeing the gun still held limply in her hand, Sam cried out. "Ash, shoot him!"

Reacting at once, Ashley fired, all three bullets, to no effect.

"The fuck…?" She whispered.

"Oh, Ashley, you just shot yourself and didn't die, that should tell you everything." He remarked almost tauntingly.

Aware of Chris and Mike drawing closer; Sam cried out. "What the fuck is this?"

"You've heard of blanks before...right Sammy?" The Psycho replied.

Sam froze, hearing him say that, she knew only one person who ever called her that. Sure enough, he removed his mask to reveal himself, to be none other than Josh Washington.

Chris was the first to recover.

"...Josh?" He spluttered; unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

Josh burst out laughing as Sam yelled his name, anger seething through her. Mike also voiced Josh's name, sounded just as shocked as Chris.

"Oh, oh very good." He said, sounding overly cheerful. "Every one of you! Got my name! And after all you've been through! Good, good-good-good. I mean how does that feel?"

During this time, Chris and Mike quickly untied Sam and Ashley and they all now stood, staring in shock, and anger, at their friend as he explained.

"Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized? Humiliated? I mean, panicked?" He queried, actually sounding a little crazed. "All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago! Only guess what? They didn't get to laugh it off! No! Nope! No, no, no! They're gone!"

By the end he was laughing again, actually sounding completely unhinged. It was a veritable maelstrom of emotions for them all. Ashley was in too much shock to really think or say anything while Chris could only feel betrayed, betrayed by his best friend.

Sam equally felt betrayed, especially after the talk Josh had given her, trying to get her and Ashley to admit their feelings.

Mike meanwhile replied angrily.

"I don't know if you noticed this, Josh, but none of us are laughing."

Josh raised his arms and spoke. "Oh come, come-come-come-come. Why the long faces? Come on!"

He began to make expressive gestures while revealing his role in everything.

"It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did, I mean, every one of you, just pitter-pat, pitter-pat! I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle!"

Ashley remembered how the candle had flared to life, Josh had set it up to do that.

" _Ahh!" She had screamed. "Did that just happen?"_

"I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed!" Josh continued; remembering how he had created the ghosts. "It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic!"

Chris recalled the death trap plans he had seen, that was how Josh survived, Ashley had been chained up, while he stood behind the wall and put his head through the gap, onto the fake body.

"And all that gore? I mean, gore, there was gore galore!" He continued to brag. "Fake bodies... I mean, God that shit was expensive!"

The others all shared a look, yeah they had fallen for it, been terrorized, but now, now it was just too far.

"And no retakes! Nope, nope, nope, only double takes! You should have seen your faces. Hook, line and sinker, for every little stinker!" Josh cried out.

He was clearly enjoying himself, feeling as if he had triumphed.

Sam shook her head, recalling everything she had seen.

"Josh, your fingerprints were all over this." She replied. "It was obviously all you."

"Oh really? Really, really, really?" He taunted.

Sam then elaborated on what she meant. "You're crying out for help, Josh... Come on, you wanted to get caught, didn't you?"

"Oh sure. I'm totally just crying out for help. 'Help me! Oh help me! Help, help.'" Josh taunted. "Come on! Come on! It was just for fun! I mean, so you got a little bit of egg on your face, right? Nobody got hurt-"

For Mike, that was the last straw.

He snapped. "What are you talking about you ass hat? Jessica is FUCKING DEAD."

"What?" Josh gasped, suddenly deflating.

The others all looked at Mike in horror as he moved towards Josh, reaching into his waistband to pull out a revolver.

"Did you hear me!? Jessica is dead..." Mike growled. "And YOU ARE GONNA FUCKING PAY YOU DICK!"

As he uttered the last word, Mike slammed the butt of the revolver into Josh's head, knocking him out cold.

* * *

Meanwhile, trapped in the den of the real psycho killer, Emily and Jess could only struggle uselessly against their bonds, Jess whimpering into her gag as the cold air pebbled her almost completely naked skin.

Emily grit her teeth, trying to think, but it was no use, panic prevented her.

Especially when the man turned to face them again, having retrieved something from the table he had uncovered, the table covered with objects that could only have one purpose, harm.

"Well, let's get started...I'll admit, it was fun, having this blonde girl here, she can bear witness I suppose, I'll deal with her later." He explained as he once more groped Jess' bare breasts, humiliating her. "But you, dear girl...now you are much more interesting prey."

Emily remained tense; watching him carefully as he circled around Jess towards her. Her bonds wouldn't give, she was trapped.

"I don't know, what you think you are doing, but, I swear you-" Emily tried to retort, to sound braver than she felt.

But she was cut off as she screamed in agony, Jess let out a muffled scream herself, of terror. Pain exploded in Emily's left knee as the man used the hammer he had picked up to attack it.

"The fuck..." Emily choked out as tears of pain blurred her vision.

The man just laughed and struck again, striking her left knee for a second time, and then a third.

Emily couldn't help it, she screamed again, her left knee was certainly broken now. No further pain came, but she could hear the man moving and could guess where he was, even over Jess' muffled cries.

He sounded like he was moving things, she could hear the clatter of metal. By the time her vision cleared however, he had stopped whatever he was doing there and also put the hammer away and retrieved, of all things, a knife.

Emily panicked again.

"Wait, no..." She hated herself for pleading, but she was just so scared.

She almost couldn't believe it, but she found herself sympathizing with Jess. Jess had clearly been down her longer, while not hurt by this creep, she was at his mercy.

The man examined the knife as he spoke. "Just a taster dear girl; a trifle basic, but, good for starters I say...Now, for the next step, I have a way to make it more...interesting."

With that he moved over to Jess and suddenly, removed her gag.

"Please, please..." She cried out at once, sobbing.

The man shook his head and was deceptively soothing. "Shhh, it's okay...now watch, I'm going to have some fun...then your part comes in."

Both girls could only wait, fear gripping them as the man approached Emily again and began his next torture on her.

Emily's world dissolved simply into pain as the main repeatedly cut her with the knife, on her upper arms and even her chest, cutting through the blouse too. Emily could only cry and, with her pride shattered, beg him to stop. He eventually did, but not out of mercy.

"Now for the fun part...I think, I'll take two...but which two..." He muttered before turning to Jess. "I guess you'll have to decide.

Emily groaned, she could still feel the pain, it hurt so bad, she was getting worse. She had thought they were going to be tortured and then killed; but this, this made her reconsider.

' _This monster doesn't see any difference...we're not going to be tortured and then murdered...'_ She thought to herself through the agony. _'We're going to be murdered by torture...'_

Then she realized the full horror of what was to come next, especially the horrible twist.

"So, dear girl...Your Asian friend is going to lose two of her fingers...You get to choose which ones." The man revealed.

Jess panicked at once. "What, no, please, please no, I..."

The man glowered and stepped closer, his knife moving far too close to Jess' exposed skin for her liking.

Emily shook her head.

' _Fuck, no choice, just this once Jess, just this once...I don't blame you.'_ She thought before swallowing her fear. "Jess, just do it...tell him!"

Trembling Jess sobbed out the words… "The...the last two fingers...on her right hand."

Emily went rigid, trying to imagine the pain so she could control it. The man turned away, walking back over to her, grinning. Emily could only watch, transfixed as he grabbed her hand, separated those two fingers and readied the knife.

Emily suddenly realized. _'He's taking them both at once, fuck!'_

That was her last thought before she screamed so loudly she was amazed she didn't damage her voice.

The pain was unreal, worse than her previous injuries. She didn't dare look, she didn't want to look, she could hear Jess crying her name, apologizing endlessly, sobbing uncontrollably.

What was worse, she realized, the man wasn't anywhere near being done.

* * *

End of chapter, things have taken a sudden drastic turn now, read and review please.

Just to sum up BTW, since it might be a bit hard to keep track, here are the injuries so far each character has sustained:

 **Sam:** Cuts and bruises, scraped knees and elbows

 **Ashley:** Twisted ankle; black eye

 **Emily:** Cuts and scrapes; bloody nose and bruises; blow to back of head; torture wounds (so far simply a broken knee, numerous cuts and lost fingers)

 **Jess:** Several deep gashes and claw marks, cuts to face, chest, arms and legs.

 **Chris:** Bruises

 **Matt:** Scrapes; covered in grime; falls from a ledge to a heavy landing (Fatal Wound).

 **Mike:** Cuts and bruises; covered in grime


	19. Chapter 18

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 18 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Indeed; oh yes, he is not finished yet, but things are going to get even more dangerous soon.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Poptarts1121: No as I don't have an account there and don't intend to set one up.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

Chris sighed as he walked along with Mike, they were escorting, roughly escorting, a bound Josh to the shed.

It had taken them quite a while to secure him and then find their way back out of the underground hotel to reach the main lodge. Sam and Ashley remained in the main room of the lodge, Sam doing her best to comfort Ashley who was still recovering from her near death experience, even if it hadn't been designed to kill.

Josh had woken up midway through their attempt to leave the hotel and just made things harder.

"Guys!" He yelled as Mike shoved himself forwards. "Guys, come on...seriously, this is crazy, you know?"

"Shut up." Mike replied, clearly fed up.

Chris shook his head as Josh tried to talk to him

"Dude...dude, Chris, bro...I"

Chris cut him off sharply as Mike stepped forwards. "I'm not your bro!"

Mike forced Josh to his feet and forced him along the path again.

"Where are we going, where are you guys taking me?" Josh demanded; still startled.

Mike glared at him and spoke darkly. "Locking you up, bro."

"What?!"

"So you can't say or do anything stupid before we call the police in the morning." Mike explained.

"Come ON!" Josh complained bitterly. "I didn't DO ANYTHING-"

Chris shook his head; seriously getting tired of this. "Are you serious, _bro_?"

Mike didn't want to hear it either. "You're a goddamned murderer is what you are."

"I didn't do it." Josh snapped before pleading. "Michael please, just listen to me man! I did not hurt Jessica-"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Are you insane, like really? Do you not understand what you've done?"

"I'm a healer man, I bring people together, not like you assholes." Josh growled in response.

Rolling his eyes, Mike forced Josh onwards. "That's enough."

They began to approach the shed, the same shed Josh had set up his first saw trap trick.

Josh continued to struggle and yell at them, while also protesting.

"You only see what you wanna see!" He burst out suddenly. "You're blind!"

"Stop talking." Mike replied blandly, seriously getting tired.

"You are – argh!" Josh's words were cut short by Mike forcing him to the ground, hurting his injured shoulder.

Chris stopped, a little startled by Mike's sudden action.

"It's not my fault you suckers can't take a joke." Josh exclaimed.

Mike glared at him. "Oh, oh wait, did I hurt you? Did you just feel a little... a little bit of pain? Right now I am SO... SO... SORRY."

As he raised his voice he put more pressure on Josh's shoulder, making him scream.

"Stop it!"

"Jesus, dude." Chris gasped.

He had punched Josh, but he never intended to go this far.

"Stop...Michael, I'm sorry, man...I can't tell you how sorry I am that something happened to Jessica!" Josh yelled through the pain. "But I swear, I swear to you that I have no idea what happened to her."

Chris noted that Josh seemed to be relapsing between his usual self and a crazed version of himself, the result of not taking his meds. However his anger overrode his pity.

"Josh, be honest with me, do you really expect us to trust you, for a single goddamned second, after all the shit you put us through?"

There was a pause, while Josh grimaced as Mike forced him back to his feet.

Josh grinned, slipping into crazy mode again.

"Can't we all just get along?" He joked before Mike shoved him hard. "OW! DAMMIT!"

Mike made him walk, holding him at gunpoint. "We're not dicking around."

With that he forced Josh into the shed, all the while he was ranting.

"It's not right... nope... this is not how it's supposed to go down... You're just a bunch of bullies... You can't hang out a guy just to dry like this, guys- Not like... Not like you got the guts to really do anything about it anyways!"

"You really, really, really need to shut up, man." Chris shot back.

He was still startled by Josh's behavior; he had seen some of Josh's mental breaks at times, but never anything this bad. How long had it been since Josh stopped taking his medication.

Josh glared as Mike forced him deeper into the shed. "Oh... that's... that's... I mean, I don't even know what you mean because I don't have anything to regret."

Chris rolled his eyes while Mike forced Josh onto a stood near a pole and they began trying to untie his hands then retie them to the pole.

"Okay, tying me up now, okay." Josh remarked sarcastically.

"Stay still man-" Mike growled.

"Right, right, right, right...still..." Josh replied before slipping into a mocking tone while wriggling. "Can't tie 'em up if they just wiggle around."

Chris let out an exasperated sigh. "Josh, dude-"

"Leave me a little wiggle room, huh?"

Mike glowered and pulled hard on the ties.

As he did so he snarled directly in Josh's face.

"What does it take to shut you up?"

"Ow!" Josh glared at him as they both stood and stepped back. "Not so tight okay? Not so tight, okay! I can't wiggle around. Plastic ties. That's where it's at. Yeah."

"What...in god's name is he talking about?" Mike wondered aloud.

It became clear that Josh had slipped even further and was now talking to himself.

"Plastic ties, plastic ties. Way more effective for hostage type scenarios."

"This is hard to watch..." Chris admitted.

Mike nodded. "He ever say this kind of shit before?"

Josh meanwhile was still rambling. "Guaranteed for at least three hostages, or your money back!"

Chris sighed and again admitted the truth. "No, I never seen him like _this_..."

It was then Josh decided it would be a good idea to antagonize Mike instead.

"Hey Mike." He began sniggering as he repeated Mike's name several times.

"What?" Mike replied at last, clearly angry.

Josh looked somewhere between crazed and serious. "What happened with Jess, Mike?"

Mike narrowed his eyes at that. "You know what happened."

No... No... I don't... I got a problem, Mike..." Josh replied. "I don't remember killing Jess..."

Mike rolled his eyes, muttering as he turned away,

I mean, like, I feel like I would remember killing her, you know?" He explained before leering again and adopting a suggestive tone. "She's so soft... and she's probably got like a really tight bod…"

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Mike snapped, aiming at Josh with the gun.

Chris was startled, but didn't do anything, he trusted Mike, Mike wouldn't shoot Josh, surely not.

He was proven right when Mike did not actually fire.

"Ugh..." Josh groaned before yelling. "You guys are the worst!"

"What?"

He shook his head. "Oh come ON! You expect me to believe you're gonna shoot me? Just little old me? Just little old me tied up here and helpless?"

Mike sighed and shook his head, turning back to Chris.

"Why don't you go back to the lodge and make sure everyone's alright." He said. "I'll stay here with this lunatic until morning."

Josh grinned and replied jokingly again, sounding childish. "Oooh! Sleepover! C-can we order pizza?"

"You sure you're okay?" Chris asked.

Mike nodded. "Yeah, just...they'll want to everything's fine back there."

"You're right." Chris replied. "See you in the morning."

So with that Mike made himself comfortable, sitting down nearby.

Chris dropped the wooden board and left, heading back to the lodge to tell Ashley and Sam that Josh was now secured.

He just hoped that this was the end of it, it had been a hell of a night, he just wanted them all to be safe now, when the morning came, it would all be over.

* * *

Back in the lodge, Sam was seated on the sofa in the main room, at her request, Ashley was lying on the sofa, her head on Sam's lap. Ashley's ankle still pained her after her having twisted it trying to escape Josh earlier, she was more than glad to rest it.

Sam smiled as she looked down at Ashley, she had removed Ashley's beanie and was gently running her fingers through Ashley's hair. Sam couldn't help but smile at the memory.

Once Mike and Chris left with Josh, Sam and Ashley had spoken properly; finally having a proper confession, without any death threats, and, from there it led to them opening their hearts and admitting their true feelings for each other at last, before sharing their first kiss.

"Sam..." Ashley said at last. "Are you...really sure, I mean, I'm not exactly…?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly what, Ash?"

She sighed and replied at once. "I have, so many...imperfections, you even saw them, the birthmark, those moles..."

"Ashley; if I was worried about that, I wouldn't have said what I did..." Sam admitted. "Besides, if you're worried about imperfections; maybe you didn't notice earlier but...I have one myself."

"What?"

Sam nodded and admitted. "I had to have surgery six months ago, get my appendix taken out, I have a scar on my stomach from that."

Ashley's eyes widened. "Wow, I never, I should have..."

Sam just nodded and they relaxed, hopeful.

It was then Chris returned to reassure them about Josh; the situation seemed at last to have calmed down. Although there was still some things that worried them, they just hoped that things would soon be resolved.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Alright, this is a note to let you know, this is last chapter I will be uploading under the format I have been doing so, starting tomorrow, and progressing until this story is finished I will now be updating this story daily.


	20. Chapter 19

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 19 of my Until Dawn story, been a while since we had something like this, only a few changes in dialogue and actions from the actual storyline and therefore my novelization, in this case, Emily isn't present and Ashley is now official with Sam, but otherwise is pretty much the same, anyway, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah things are looking up, for now...as for what happens next, well, wait and see :)  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

It was while they were sitting, trying to gather their thoughts and consider what they could do next, that it happened. While keeping the lights currently off, they had finally managed to restore as much power to the lodge as possible, now Josh was no longer around to hijack it.

Their thoughts were interrupted by loud screams, immediately Chris was on his feet, Sam gasped and looked around as Ashley sat up, pulling her beanie back on, more out of habit than anything else.

"What was that?" She whispered.

Sam shook her head, taking Ashley's hand. "I don't know but it, it sounded familiar...It sounded like, like Emily."

Chris turned to her. "You sure, Em?"

Sam nodded but before they could say anything else, Mike came tearing into the room.  
"Guys, what…?"

Ashley replied at once. "We don't know, we heard it too."

Mike shook his head, this was starting to really freak them out, just when they thought it would be over, that it was safe, now things seemed to be taking another turn for the worse. Just then a loud bang was heard, the sound of someone knocking on the door, heavily.

"Whoa?" Chris gasped.

"Who the fuck can that be?" Mike muttered.

"Josh?" Ashley suggested.

Chris looked over at Mike uneasily. "Jess?"

He shook his head. "It's not Jess."

"Sorry man..." Chris replied, but then queried. "But who is it?"

"I don't know...We should check it out." Mike answered.

So with Chris agreed the duo made their way to the door and Mike pointed his gun at the door, cautious.

Chris took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm gonna open the door, you ready?" He bit his lip and repeated. "You ready?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, just do it already, whoever it is has probably gone by now."

Chris still stalled. "Unless you want me to take the gun."

"No, no, no. I think that's less good. You do the door, I got the gun." Mike replied.

Chris nodded and approached the door, he had barely turned the handle when it was suddenly kicked open, Chris and Mike both cried out and tried to urge the sudden visitor to stop. It was an elderly man, grizzled with many scars, gray eyes and hair and carrying a flame-thrower.

"Freeze...Ahh!" Mike cried out as the Stranger effortlessly disarmed him. "What the, alright. Alright, just it easy, grandpa..."

"Okay." The Stranger spat in a thick accent. "Everybody just calm down. Now just move over there, go on, move! Let me say what I came to say."

By this point the boys had backed up and now they were all back in the great room, with the girls all staring in shock at the sudden new arrival, although Mike was sure now, this was one of the men who had been following him and Jess when they headed for the cabin.

Glaring at all of them, the man shook his head.

"I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned." He told them darkly, dropping his bag near the fireplace. "I don't know why you did after what happened last year."

They all shared a look and Ashley nervously asked. "You mean Hannah and Beth?"

"Yeah, how could you know that without being involved…?" Chris queried.

Sam however jumped in then, glaring. "Or responsible!?"

"You hold on to your horses." The Stranger spat. "I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain-"

Mike scoffed at that. "Your mountain? I'm sure the Washingtons would be very surprised to hear that."

The Stranger laughed at Mike's comment.

"Well, this mountain don't belong to me, it's true." He admitted, but then added in a growl. "But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo."

The was a stunned silence after that, they all shared a look, all voicing their confusion, pretty much asking what a Wendigo was, in the end, they had no choice, they decided to hear the old man out.

The Stranger glared at them all, giving them enough time to notice the flame-thrower wasn't his only weapon, he was carrying a machete and a shotgun too.

"Now I'm only going to tell you this once. It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reasons I want to..." He explained, before sighing and adding. "Get it off my chest..."

Mike jumped on that however. "See? I told you! He's guilty as shit! Guilty of something!"

Sam quickly cut in. "Shh. Shut up Mike!"

The Stranger had a faraway look in his eye, as he began to tell his story.

"There is a curse. That dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed."

There was a moment of horrible clarity for Mike, as he realized now, at last, Josh was telling the truth, the strength of what had dragged Jess off, what he had seen, it was a Wendigo all along.

Looking at them all, the Stranger warned them. "You're going to need to find somewhere safe."

"The basement might be okay." Sam suggested.

The Stranger instructed them to go down and wait there.

It was while they were discussing this that Mike realized to his horror what he had just done.

"Guys..." He gasped. "I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming."

The Stranger turned to him at once. "Where did you leave him?"

Mike shuffled his feet and admitted. "In the shed."

The Stranger gave a short snort. "Your friend will already be dead."

"No, no he can't be." Chris burst out. "We were just with him!"

"A lot can happen quickly on this mountain."

Chris wouldn't accept that however. "No, I'm gonna go get him."

The others protested vehemently.

"I'm supposed to be his best friend and I let him down." Chris replied.

Ashley shook her head. "No he let you down Chris, he let all of us down."

Chris didn't care however, he still intended to go and, despite his initial unwillingness, he agreed to accompany the Stranger with everybody else being sent to the basement.

They began to make their way to the back door, while everybody else heading down to the basement, except Ashley who, after sharing a nervous glance with Sam, followed them, limping on her injured leg.

After giving Chris his shotgun and a few warnings the Stranger stepped out into the snow. Chris was about to follow when he heard Ashley's voice.

"Hey..." He turned and she smiled softly. "Come back safe, for all of us, okay."

He nodded and he followed the stranger while Ashley closed the door and watched them go. She quietly wished she could do more to help, but felt she'd just get in the way, so she stayed where she was, just in case, she couldn't help but have a very bad feeling.

* * *

On the walk to the shed, the Stranger, at Chris' insistence, began to fill him in on Wendigo's and their weaknesses, he was shocked to realize the shotgun wouldn't kill them, only slow them down, apparently fire was their only weakness, they also had some patterns that they adhered to, like only hunting at night. Much of what Chris heard made him even more uneasy and not too happy about his chances.

"Any uh, pro Wendigo tips?" He asked. "Like if I rub garlic all over me they won't be able to smell me or something."

"They'll still smell you." The Stranger replied disdainfully.

"Anything like that?"

The stranger grunted but conceded that apparently, their vision was based on movement and, although he didn't recommend testing it out, standing perfectly still might make a person invisible to them.

It was then they arrived at the shed, only to find the stool Josh had been tied to empty and broken. Chris rushed to it and realized they were too late.

Chris was desperate to find Josh but the Stranger insisted they leave, revealing to Chris that the Wendigo was fond of rendering its victim immobile and then stripping the skin from the body piece by piece and keeping them alive and aware while it feasted on their organs.

Chris was freaked out enough to finally agree to give up and they began to leave.

They had barely gone ten paces from the shed when the Stranger yelled.

"Wait, don't move."

Chris froze, a second too late, as his foot came down on a twig that snapped.

The Stranger reacted at once. "RUN, GO, NOW, NOW!"

Chris darted forwards, just as a monstrous creature leapt in front of him.

He leapt back in shock, crying out. "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK!?"

The Stranger blasted the Wendigo with his flame-thrower yelling out. "BACK, BACK!"

After warning Chris to get out of there, get back to the lodge, the Stranger stepped back, raising his flame-thrower again when suddenly he let out a choked gurgle. Chris watched in horror as his body hit the ground, his head hitting it separately a second or so later.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." Chris gasped, shock almost setting in.

It was then however he was forced to act, for the Wendigo then turned and lunged, right at him.

He did the only thing he could, he raised the shotgun and fired, point-blank, right in its deformed face. It felt back with a shriek and Chris immediately took off running, desperate to reach the lodge, before it was too late.

He hadn't gone far when the Wendigo returned, or maybe it was another one, he wasn't sure but it leapt out in front of him.

He fired and hit it, as it fell back he ran until he reached a ledge and leapt off. He landed and cried out as pain flared up in his ankle. Looking up he saw the Wendigo coming back for more, he shot again and ran as fast as he could, limping on his injured leg.

' _Sprained ankle, it's gotta be a sprained ankle.'_ His thoughts raced but then he saw ahead. _'Oh shit!'_

The Wendigo was back for more again. Chris fired and struck it again, Chris was now within reach of the lodge, he run up to it, yelling.

"Oh thank God, Please, let me in, quick!"

Ashley opened the door at that moment, Chris burst in and slammed the door shut behind him, locking it, for all the good he felt it would do.

Ashley turned to him, eyes wide, noting his state.

"Chris, oh my god, what happened?"

He shook his head. "We gotta go, that thing was like, right behind me-"

They heard it shriek as it leapt at the door and slammed into it. Ashley let out a short scream and Chris urged her to go.

They hurried as quick as they could down to the basement, Mike was half-way up the basement stairs, apparently on his way up to get Ashley. He quickly turned and headed back down with them.

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the forest, a Wendigo made it's way through the snow, dragging the unconscious body of Josh Washington behind it.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	21. Chapter 20

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 20 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **thedarkpokemaster: Yup, things are going from bad to worse now.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

Still in shock from the recent terrors, Chris, Ashley and Mike managed to enter the basement room, making sure to close and bar the door behind them.  
Sam also turned, relieved. "What took you so long?"

Still reeling from the Stranger's death, Chris shook his head.

His words were spoken in a daze. "It's not so good up there right now-"

"Understatement of the night." Mike muttered with a sigh.

Sam looked around worriedly. "Chris, where's the flame-thrower guy?"

"Ah yeah, he uh..." Chris managed to get out.

He didn't need to finish as they all realized the truth, the man was dead. They were all shocked and instantly scared. It was clear the man was an expert on these Wendigos and they no doubt hoped that, with him on their side, they'd have a chance of survival, now he was dead, which completely shattered their hopes.

"What happened?" Sam gasped.

Chris shuddered, hating remembering. "The thing, it... it tore him apart! Right in front of me!"

"Oh God..."

There was a stony silence as they all took this in, realizing what they felt was their best chance had been torn away.

Finally Mike seemed to come to a decision as he paced around the room, looking around wildly.

"Alright." He said, sounding frantic. "These all the doors?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?"

He sighed and admitted. "Another way out."

"Mike..." Sam shook her head. "I really don't think that's a good idea. We should stay put, right here, until dawn. At least we're safe down here-"

Mike turned to her incredulous. "Oh? Yeah? All wrapped like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?"

Sam tried to reassure him. "Well, do you have the key for the cable car?"

Mike bit his lip and thought for a moment, looking at the video monitors before him, that Josh had used previously, he could see the cable car station and see that the key was indeed gone..

Finally it dawned on him and he turned back to the others.

"Josh, he's gotta have it."

"Josh?" Sam queried.

Mike nodded. "One of his dirty little tricks."

Sam groaned. "Great. Great!"

"If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then..." Mike sighed and shrugged. "We're shit outta luck."

There was a pause during which they all were left to worry about what to do now. Things had gone from calming down, to becoming even more dangerous. Worse, They still hadn't seen any sign of Emily and Matt, they were still out there most likely, in great danger and didn't even know it.

"Fuck it." Mike said at last. "I'm gonna get that key. Right from thing's goddamned bedroom, and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here."

Before he could leave however he heard Sam and Ashley talking and joined them at a work bench.

"Whoa, look at all this"

Sam nodded and replied. "It was all in that old guy's bag..."

Mike then saw what they were looking at. "Is that a map?"

"This guy was prepared for anything." Sam noted.

"Not quite."

Chris remained where he was, sitting against another bench, staring blankly at the floor; still too traumatized to join them.

Sam then spotted something, it looked like a tunnel, but it was marked as dangerous.

"Wait, wait, wait, what is that?" She asked, disturbed.

Mike shook his head, he had passed the collapsed section on his back from the sanatorium. "I was down there, it was horrible."  
"You were?"

He began to relate the history of what he saw, the survivors of the mine collapse, what the reporter found out, the cover up and the fact the owners knew the mines were a death trap, then also, the discovery of the restraining chair. The others gazed at him in utter shock.

"I'm just saying." He told them. "It's weird how much crazy shit's gone on up here."

Look back at the map, Mike spotted and pointed out a certain tunnel.

"That's how I got back here." Mike explained.

There was a long silence, before finally Mike made up his mind.

"No one leave okay. It's not safe out there." He turned and prepared to go and get Josh, to return to the Sanatorium where he hoped to find a way down to the part of the mines he needed to get to. "I'll be back soon."

With that he left the basement.

After Mike left, the others tried to relax; Sam smiled reassuringly towards Ashley who shakily returned it, they hugged briefly.

"Well, this is not how I imagined our trip turning out." Sam whispered.

"I know..." Ashley replied. "I'm just trying to stay focused on the good that came out of it."

Smiling wider Sam replied. "You mean us?"

Ashley nodded and Sam continued. "Well, I'll see if I can find anything else out...You see if you can help Chris."

Ashley bit her lip and slowly began to make her way over to Chris.

Sam sighed as she sifted through the Stranger's belongings, spotting a journal of sorts she began to read it.

In it she found the Stranger had documented everything he knew about the Wendigos, including some stuff he hadn't actually told them, such as how they could mimic humans, especially their voices to lure prey to them. In truth, all of it was scary.

While reading, she noticed something, something which made her fear return. Mike was in grave danger.

"Oh shit, shit..." She gasped. "We gotta go find Mike."

She sounded so panicked none of the others questioned her, they simply grabbed what they needed and followed her out of the basement.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mike began making his way through the mine tunnels; he knew he had to hurry.

' _This just keeps getting worse and worse...God, I just hope...'_ He fretted; unable to calm his thoughts.

He was still angered at Jess' death, as well as what had now more than likely happened with Josh. That made the face Matt and Emily were still missing all the more worrying to him.

He hardened his resolve however, following the path he knew led to the sanatorium. _'I won't let anything happen to anyone else, I can't...'_

It was then however he stopped suddenly, startled as, nearby he heard screaming, very familiar screaming, from two girls that he knew very well.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	22. Chapter 21

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 21 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Yeah, well, read on and see, sadly, it's not quite what you think :(  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

Emily fought to control herself, trying hard to overcome the pain, with limited success. She could the man laughed, hear the metallic sound again. But none of it really registered to her, just the pain.

' _My fingers...fuck, he, he took my...'_

Her broken thoughts halted and panic consumed her as her vision cleared enough for her to see the man standing in front of her again. He was holding what she could only describe as a red hot branding iron.

"We don't want you bleeding out too soon, beautiful." He remarked with a sadistic grin. "So, let's sort this out."

Emily screamed and tried to struggle, but her bonds remained solid. "NO, NO!"

Her words dissolved into screams as the burning metal was forcibly pressed against the stumps of her severed fingers. When the pain finally passed Emily's screams died down to a whimper. The only plus side was she could now see that, by doing that, he had cauterized the wounds.

An effective albeit cruel measure. She looked over at Jess, who was staring back at her, tears streaming down her face, looking utterly humiliated and terrified.

Emily bit her lip. _'I don't blame you...I'm scared shitless here too...Dammit Jess; we need to keep it together, don't break down on me now...'_

As much as she hated to admit it; Emily wasn't sure she'd be able to endure much longer, if not for Jess' presence. She wasn't the only one suffering in this and, for what reason she did not know, she had to make sure that, at the very least, Jess got out of this alive.

She really cursed being the clearer head here, it was probably why she was thinking things like that, because despite how unlikely it seemed at the moment, she was the only one who could make anything like that happen.

Then he was there again with his knife and she froze, even through the haze of pain she was horrified and disgusted by his next action. He didn't cut her skin anymore, he sought to humiliate her, albeit, not to the same extent as Jess, still stuck in nothing but her panties.

The man had effectively reduced her blouse to shreds and removed it, leaving her black lace bra exposed. The only consolation came when he put the knife down, she wasn't going to be losing anymore clothes it seemed.

' _At least not yet, who knows what this sicko has planned...'_ She thought brokenly.

She got part of her answer at least when he returned from his 'worktable' with a pair of pliers.

"Now, let's see to the other hand my dear." He said in an almost cordial manner; which just made him even more unsettling.

Emily bit back a groan and tried to control herself, get a grip on the pain, but it was no good, she could only scream, scream until her voice was hoarse as he began forcibly removing the fingernails on her left hand. Jess was crying out, begging the man to stop; but even that was faint.

Emily could only feel pain. _'Just, stop please...please...I can't...'_

She hated it, the feeling of being helpless and weak, but there was nothing she could do. It wasn't until she heard Jess' shrill screaming that she recovered to look up.

It was then she saw it; the man had long since put the pliers away, the damage he intended for her being done. He had picked up another branding iron and was forcing it into Jess' right cheek, marring the formerly unmarked side of her face now.

"Stop it, leave her alone!" Emily cried out impulsively.

The man simply turned to her and laughed. "You're right, sorry!"

He then drove the still burning hot branding iron into Emily's exposed stomach, drawing more screams from her.

"This was meant for you after all...and we're not done yet."

He retrieved a third from where it had been heating up, thankfully the last one Emily noticed. She just had to endure. This time he burned the branding iron into her legs, above both knees, increasing the pain in the knee he had already smashed with a hammer.

It was clear this man was really enjoying himself now, which did not bode well. Emily was certain he was gearing up, before long, he'd kill them.

Jess choked out more tears, the pain was just getting worse, it was bad enough when she woke up, now to have felt even more. In addition to seeing Emily suffering and being humiliated, as well as her own humiliation, it was almost unbearable.

' _Please, let it end, let it end...'_ She thought sadly before hearing Emily again. _'What, what is he doing now?'_

Emily's yelp had sounded strangely muffled and Jess now saw why, for the man had forced a cloth sack over her head, before suddenly tipping the chair back so Emily was now lying on the ground, still helpless tied to the chair.

"What are you doing!?"  
He turned to her, smirking. "Shut up slut, unless you want me to have some fun with you too?"

He leered at her exposed breasts, making her blush again and she could only watch helplessly as he began pouring water from a large container onto Emily's covered head.

Emily startled reaction and sudden choking terrorized her as she realized what his plan was now, he was trying to drown her, or at least, simulate drowning.

Sure enough he finally stopped, lifted the chair back upright and whipped the sodden sack of Emily's head. The girl coughed and spluttered and looking around wildly, her eyes bloodshot, her make-up ruined. Yet, to Jess' amazement, she _still_ glared defiantly at their captor.

"That your worst..." She coughed out.

The man shook his head and laughed, clearly gearing up for his end game. Something which made Jess feel even worse, she knew why she was being spared, apart from her face being burned. He wanted to torture and kill Emily first, then, it would be _her_ turn.

Still smirking darkly, the man made his way back to his 'workbench', putting his equipment away. Emily watched him carefully, praying she could endure what was next. Her resolve faltered when he turned and walked towards her, carrying a battery operated power drill, a large screw-head already fixed.

"You are an impressive one...very few have ever survived so much of my little...treatment." He growled. "But rest assured, I will keep going, until you die, bitch."

He was changing; something which unnerved her even more. Then everything gave way to panic as he started up the drill, knelt down and began to slowly, trying to draw things out possibly, move the drill towards her right thigh.

Both she and Jess screamed, then suddenly they all stopped, the killer shutting the drill off. They had heard it, a loud, almost metallic noise, the sound of footsteps.

"Fuck." He muttered before putting the drill down and moving quickly into the shadows near the entrance.

Jess and Emily shared panicked looks and turned their gazes towards the entrance. Someone had heard them, someone who could save them, but they were walking into a trap. Then they saw their would-be rescuer enter and Jess gasped. Emily was shocked too, but kept it together enough to warn him.

"Michael, look out, behind you!"

He spun around, just in time to blunt what would have been a nasty blow from the killer. Staggered back Mike recovered, clearly still in shock at seeing the two girls and their current states. But now he was rapidly putting things together.

Glaring Mike lashed out at the man, who swiftly blocked the blow, mostly.

"Alright, you fucked up son of a bitch!" He snarled before attacking again.

The man surprisingly held his own, knocking Mike's flashlight out of his hand and even fending off some of Mike's blows.

He then started to fight back, kicking Mike in the stomach and knocking him down, before grabbing the nearest thing he could, the pliers he had used and threw them at Mike. Mike dodged them and lunged for the man, knocking him down again.

You cannot stop me!" He bellowed.

Mike just punched him in the face. "Try me!"

Mike punched the man again and again, before being pushed off. The man leapt to his feet and suddenly, he had his knife in his hand. Both girls watched, enraptured and fearful, for the outcome of this battle. Emily had noticed something however; yet prayed it would be unnecessary.

The killer lashed out with the knife, twice, but Mike narrowly dodged both attacks before responding with one of his own, delivering a powerful punch to the man's jaw. The killer reeled, and readied himself again, only to find himself staring down the barrel of Mike's revolver.

"Drop it." Mike hissed.

The killer obliged, dropping the knife before laughing. "You don't have the balls...boy."

Mike growled, gesturing towards Jess and Emily. "You think so, after seeing what you just did!"

"Doesn't matter." The killer remarked with a shrug. "You're right where I want you."

Then he suddenly shoved Mike, who cried out, the gun went off, a wild shot which thankfully didn't hit either girl. But then Mike landed and cried out, before going lip, as the steel pole which had protruded behind him pierced his chest, right through the heart.

Emily froze at the sight before her, unable to believe, Jess screamed out in utter dismay, breaking down completely.

"NOOO! NO, MICHAEL, NOOOO!"

Emily grit her teeth, her own sorrow almost consuming her. But she had to control it, not now, she couldn't break, not with their lives on the line. The killer returned to them, laughing.

"How sad...your gallant rescuer failed." He shook his head and knelt down next to Emily. "Oh well, where were we?"

He picked up the drill and started it up again, approaching her right thigh once more and Emily knew she had no choice. With a grunt of effort she pulled at the weakened bonds around her wrists, breaking them and shoved the man back.

"You bitch!" He cried out, startled.

He lunged for her with the drill and she grabbed his arms. Her muscles were screaming due to the torment she endured. But she held on and pushed as hard as she could. There was a choke yelp and the man fell back, dead, the drill having pierced his jaw.

A silence, broken only by Jess' broken sobs, filled the cave as Emily finally felt herself calming down, and the pain returning in full force.

Still she forced herself onwards and untied herself, hurrying to untie Jess. Even freed, Jess didn't move. Emily shook her had and, trying to avoid the devastating sight of Mike's corpse, she searched the cave and found a first aid kit.

' _Better than nothing I guess...but fuck, this is messed up, I need to...'_ She thought before composing herself.

She stood, her cuts she had treated as best as she could, as well as the burns, her missing fingers and the fingers of her left hand, lacking their nails, were now bandaged and she quickly worked on treating Jess' burns. She also spotted something unusual and out of place, it looked like a book of sorts.

She picked it up, deciding right now, it would be best to give Jess a little time. Reading it horrified her, this killer wasn't the worst threat here. The book she was reading was notes he had taken from another man living on the mountain, a man who was hunting a creature called the Wendigo.

In it he detailed everything he learned by snooping around the man's files and notes, it included details about the creature, how to avoid it, and a lot of information that just made Emily's fears even worse.

Now she knew they had to get out of here, before this Wendigo showed up to claim them instead of the, now deceased, killer.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	23. Chapter 22

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 22 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Yeah, sadly, it's happened, plus there's another death in this chapter and another in the next, after that, well, wait and see :(**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

Desperately pursuing Mike, Sam led the way, what she had seen in the Stranger's journal had her worried enough that she was willing to abandon the relative safety of the basement for this. Ashley, and Chris followed her; all of them carrying flashlights to ensure none were caught out in the dark.

"Come on guys! Hurry up!" She insisted. "We gotta find Mike, come on."

Chris was at the back of the group and falling behind however; limping heavily on his ankle, he was now definitely sure it was sprained.

He shook his head. "Hey...ahhh, I'm kinda gimping out here, guys."

The two girls turned to him worried.

"I think maybe you should go on without me." He said at last.

They hurried up to him and Ashley asked. "Oh God, Chris, are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just go on..." He replied. "I- I can't keep up with you macho ladies."

"Oh God Chris, just stop it okay?" Ashley sighed at his joke.

"Listen, just, go on ahead, okay? You gotta warn Mike, I'll be right behind you..." He said as reassuringly as he could. "I'm just gonna take a breather."

They reluctantly agreed and hurried onwards as Chris sat down, they journeyed in silence, holding each other's hands for reassurance; until eventually they reached a door at the end of the tunnel, the door to the Sanatorium according to the map they had seen.

They began to approach the door when a low, ominous rumbling noise caught their attention.

"Uh, what was…?" Ashley began, but before she could finish, she cried out, as did Sam as the ground suddenly crumbled beneath them.

They both screamed as they fell down, tumbled over rocks and debris on the way down. When they finally landed, hard, they both had to move slowly, unless the pain flared up and got worse.

"Argh...shit." Sam mumbled.

Ashley shook her head. "Dammit, why does it always have to be stuff like this?"

Sam sighed as they both finally made it to their feet and dusted themselves off.

"Are you alright?" Ashley asked quickly.

Sam nodded. "I, I think so, you?"

Ashley nodded too and Sam quickly checked her over. Apart from a large bruise around her left eyes and several cuts and scrapes, Ashley seemed to be alright.

Sam had more cuts and scrapes than before and two fresh scrapes, one on her right cheek and another above her left eyebrow, as well as having blood spattered onto her neck.

Ashley let out a slow breath. "Looks like we got off lightly."

"Yeah, let's see now..." Sam replied, muttering to herself. "Looks like the tunnel goes this way...under the door, I think we can keep going."

Nodding and praying Sam was right, she began to follow as Sam led the way down the tunnels.

She shuddered as she looked around, everything here was making her edgy. Sensing her unease Sam actually put her arm around her and pulled her close, stopping them both.

"Hey, Ash, it's gonna be okay." She said softly. "I'm here, alright, I gotcha...and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Ashley couldn't help but smile, relieved; a warm feeling spreading through her body. "Sam...Thank you, I..."

Sam just grinned. "I know."

With that she kissed Ashley's forehead and together the girls pressed on. Their journey eventually led them outside the mines, into the cold.

"Shit, guess that's the sanatorium." Sam muttered, looking up at the large building.

They both looked around, there was a path they could see, leading to more tunnels and caverns. Sam recalled the map and knew this was their destination, Josh would be down there.

But that wasn't all, she shook her head. "I don't see Mike anywhere, we did take a different route than he did, but still, we should have found him by now?"

Ashley bit her lip. "Mike is...strong, he's proven himself a good survivor too. Maybe he made it through the Sanatorium, maybe he's already in those tunnels."

"One way or the other Ash, I don't see us having another option...We have to press on and get the key from Josh." Sam said at last. "I hate the thought of just leaving him behind but...The longer we spend trying to find Mike, the more danger we're in...I just hope you're right."

Ashley quietly agreed and together they began making their way towards the tunnels, ready to head into the Wendigo's lair to find Josh and hopefully, the means of their escape.

* * *

Chris limped closer to the door, looking around, this was an apparent dead end.

"Sam!" He cried out. "ASH! You guys hear me?"

He looked down and stopped when he saw the collapsed section of floor below him

' _Holy shit, did they...did they fall down here.'_ He wondered. _'Fuck, I hope they're alright...'_

He carefully tried to slip down only to lose his footing and land heavily.

' _Fuck man, that hurt...'_

Gritting his teeth he pressed on, it was becoming darker in the tunnels he noticed. He just prayed his flashlight wasn't giving out and quickened his pace as much he dared. However he soon stopped and listened, for he then heard it.

"Help me!"

He jumped and looked around. "H-hello?"

He heard it again and realized now where the voice was coming from, and that he recognized it.

"Jess!?" He cried out, the voice continued to call for help. "H-hold on, I'm coming."

He clambered through the opening and into a lower tunnel, gritting his teeth when he landed. He continued on the path, searching, calling out. He finally found the source of the noise, it sounded like Jess was screaming and banging on a trapdoor in the floor.

He stopped next to the trapdoor, shocked. "Shit, this is..."

He had thought Jess dead, just as Mike had said, but this certainly a glimmer of hope. Maybe she had been alive all along. He quickly knelt down and unbolted the trap door.

He pulled it open, hoping to save her, but he couldn't see her anywhere, no sign of her looking up, scared or relieved or anything. Just nothing. Until the Wendigo leapt up with a horrific shriek and grabbed him. Chris screamed, but it was too late.

Keeping a tight grip on his head the Wendigo used its other hand to attack his neck, the last thing Chris saw before being decapitated was something horribly familiar, on the Wendigo's upper right arm. With the head still in its hand, the Wendigo grabbed Chris' body and dragged both prizes down through the trapdoor, shutting the trapdoor behind it as it went.

* * *

End of chapter, now poor Chris is dead and the group of eight is reduced to five, what happens next, we can only wait and see, read and review please.


	24. Chapter 23

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 23 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

Note about this chapter, I had to take a bit of a liberty in two areas, but only because I needed some way to destroy the Sanatorium and a plausible reason for them to try and escape through the mineshaft Sam leaves the cave by in the game, just, roll with it please.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Bl4ckHunter: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it, sadly yeah, he's the third and now, we have a fourth to go down in this chapter.  
thedarkpokemaster: Yes, sadly so and well, read on and see just what happens :(  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

Moving slowly through the caverns, Ashley and Sam continued their search for Josh.

"He's gotta be down here, somewhere." Sam was saying.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah..."

She glanced behind her and looked worried. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she turned to Sam.

"Oh, I don't like this Sam, Chris should have caught up with us by now, even with his injuries." She remarked worriedly. "And...and Mike, I thought, I thought he'd be..."

Sam bowed her head. "I know Ash, I know…"

Trembling Ashley added. "We haven't seen Matt and Emily since, since the shed either..."

Sam nodded again, sighing heavily, Ashley was right, which made this even more overwhelming for her. At this rate, it looked like she and Ashley were the only ones left, or at least, the only ones she could confirm were relatively safe.

"Sam, be honest..." Ashley queried; as if sensing the other girl's thoughts. "Mike, Chris, Matt, Emily...Josh? Do you think they're…?"

She didn't include Jess, Sam noticed but she knew it was due to what Mike said; Jess was more than likely already dead, even if Mike had been mistaken.

Shaking her head sadly, Sam turned to Ashley. "I'm afraid so Ash; it...It might just be us."

"Oh God."

"But Ash, I swear, I won't let anything happen to you." Sam added hastily, taking Ashley's free hand in both her own.

Nodding fearfully Ashley followed Sam as they resumed their journey.

Continuing onwards they soon found themselves standing at the edge of an underground lake; which definitely did not look inviting.

"I really, really, don't wanna go in there." Sam muttered.

"Don't blame you, me neither." Ashley replied quietly. "But it's the only way across, see, there's a door over there."

Sam nodded, seeing it, and sighed. "Alright, let's go."

With that they both sat down on the edge and, with a reassuring look to each other, slid into the lake. The water immediately came up to Sam's waist and instantly chilled them to the bone.

"Jesus, it's freezing." Sam cried out.

Ashley groaned and nodded but didn't say anything, not trusting herself to speak. Gritting their teeth against the chill and, trying to allay any fears of something in the water with them, they began to wade across. Panic set in however as the water for deeper the further they moved towards the other side.

"Oh shit..." Ashley finally muttered, she was nearly up to her neck in the water.

Sam did her best to reassure her, especially as she realized. "It's going up, we're almost there, it'll be fine."

Sure enough, the water level began to lessen as the ground sloped upwards, they were soon climbing out of the lake and letting out relieved sighs.

Doing their best to push their momentary panic in the water out of their minds, they pushed onwards towards a nearby door, it took some force to open it but when they did it suddenly burst open, unleashed more water and with it, a rotting decapitated head.

The girls both screamed in shock but collected themselves, until they entered the room. Unaware that out in the lake, a Wendigo stood, watching them before slipping under the water again.

Inside the next chamber, which looked like some sort of den, revulsion, dismay, horror and shock consumed them.

"NO!" Sam cried out.

Ashley choked and had to will herself not to vomit, for the room contained, strung up or otherwise hanging from the ceiling, via hooks or changes or such, corpses, in varying states of decay.

It was clear this was the Wendigo's den, and these corpses were its food. Two corpses caught their eye however, familiar despite one being headless.

"Oh my God..." Ashley screamed. "Matt...Chris!"

Sam shook her head, dismay filling her as she spotted a third, more recent one, that looked as if it was just brought into the room.

She let out a shaky breath. "Ash...it's Mike..."

Ashley burst into tears, seeing him, disturbingly, of the three, only Chris' body showed the level of aggression their quick study of the Stranger's journal had convinced them to expect from the Wendigo. Matt and Mike seemed to die from very human causes.

It was then they spotted another headless body, but recognized the clothes, the Stranger, he had been brought down here too.

"What...what's that?" Ashley asked.

Sam approached and saw something protruding from his pocket, pulling it out. She gasped as she saw she was now holding what looked like a remote detonator; along with a note attached.

" _This is my absolute last resort."_ She read. _"Only if no other options remain and the Wendigo I have imprisoned must be purged should this be used. Whoever reads this, you're only seeing it because I have died and with my death; there is no way to keep the Wendigos I have imprisoned in the Sanatorium chained up. They will get free before long; so this is the only means to ensure that doesn't happen any time soon. You will be in danger but if you are quick, you just might stand a chance. Use this and force those creatures out of their bodies then...just pray they can't find new ones."_

After explaining it to Ashley they both pondered on what to do; the other side detailed exactly what pressing the switch would do and what it would mean.

It was clear he intended to have this used by whoever found his body, in the event of his death; from what they had read, killing a Wendigo simply forced it to seek a new host as the spirit broke free of the destroyed body. But it was clear it was their only choice.

Praying it would do what she hoped it would, Sam hit the switch.

The resulting explosion and rocking of the cavern nearly knocked them off their feet. Sam realized right away what had happened, the Sanatorium had indeed blown up, liking incinerating the Wendigos there.

While doubtful, she prayed that would at least make it easier for them, hopefully there was indeed only one Wendigo out there and now it was the only one left.

Recovering from the shock of the distant explosion, Ashley then stiffened. "Wait, Sam...hear that?"

She listened and realized she could hear something, or rather, someone.

"I don't take orders from you, you can't tell me what to do..." Josh was mumbling.

They had found him, nodding to Ashley they quickly hurried through the nearby door and hurried over to him. It was clear he was having some sort of episode and was out of it.

"Josh, JOSH!" Sam yelled, shaking him, trying to get his attention.

Josh started and then saw them. "Wha...Sam, Ash...What, what are you…?"

Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Oh God, Josh, we thought, thank God."

"Josh, we need to get out of here, things are, worse than we thought and, and..." Ashley stammered.

Sam tried to compose herself. "Josh, do you have the key for the cable car?"

Josh nodded and handed it to her. They then sought a way out, soon seeing one, or rather, Sam saw one.

They hurried over but stopped; the way out turned out to be a vertical mine shaft entrance, there were plenty of wooden platforms at intervals on the way up, but no visible means to reach them, other than climbing the rocks.

"Sam, Josh and I can't climb this." Ashley stated with Josh nodded.

Sam bit her lip and thought. "Let me just climb up to that first platform, let me take a look."

They nodded and Sam got to work, reaching the first platform in no time at all she grinned.

"Ah, here we go, looks like...yeah." Sam called out. "Guys there's a ladder here and it looks like there's ones on the other platforms too. I can climb up to each one and set it down for you, we can get out that way."

"I hope so..." Josh mumbled.

Sam quickly set down the ladder on the platform she was on and began climbing. Ashley nodded to Josh and they made their way up the ladder, then the second. But as Sam was halfway to the third platform, the rocks suddenly gave way.

"SAM!"

Sam cried out as she fell, hitting the ground hard, letting loose another cry and, to Ashley's horror, she heard a sick crunching sound.

She quickly scrambled down the ladders to reach her girlfriend, Josh following as quickly as he could, clearly still not quite with it. By the time Ashley reached her, Sam was sitting up again, wincing in pain, tears in her eyes as she clutched her left shoulder.

Warily approaching her Ashley bit her lip.

"Are, are you…?"

Sam shook her head. "No, ow...think I...I dislocated my collar bone. No way we're getting out that way, just need to, bear it as best I can and we go back the way we came."

Worried but agreeing, seeing no other option, Ashley helped Sam up to her feet and they made their return to the Wendigo's den.

"No, no..." Josh cried out as he saw it, saw the bodies. "No...I didn't want you to die..."

Sam bit her lip. "We know Josh, we know, stay with us, please..."

Nodding fearfully Josh followed them as they returned to the lake and began wading back through it. But midway through Ashley froze.

"Something just brushed past me." She whispered.

Sam froze too, whispering to her. "Stay still, it might be a..."

She never finished the sentence, for at that moment, behind the girls, between them and Josh, a Wendigo burst out of the ground.

Josh screamed. "Ahhh, no, no, you're not real, you're not…!"

 _'Fuck!'_ Sam realized too late. "Josh, stay still, DON'T MOVE!"

But it was too late, the Wendigo grabbed him by the head and began to squeeze.

For Sam and Ashley, it was beyond horrifying, having to stand there, helpless, while Josh's head was crushed by the Wendigo, killing him in such an agonizing way.

Then, as it began to drag him off to the den, they saw it, on the Wendigo's right upper arm, a black butterfly tattoo.

"It...it can't be..." Ashley whispered.

Sam shook her head. "It is...there's, there's no other way, no doubt about it..."

They now knew the identity of the Wendigo and were shocked beyond belief, to see their friend, the girl they knew for so long, become the monster before them.

"Hannah."

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	25. Chapter 24

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 24 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Yes, now it's just the girls, or, as the trophy says, the 'Four Daughters of Darkness' :) Yeah, well, that's one small consolation.  
wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

Realizing the danger they were in, Emily fought to compose herself; this was getting out of hand. She and Jess had survived the killer, who had been intent on torturing them to death; Emily still struggled with the injuries she had suffered at his hands.

' _Fuck, I've done what I can but...'_ She noted to herself. _'Once we're outta here, we need to...we'll need to get our injuries properly seen to...But the others…?'_

She looked over at Jess who was still broken, almost catatonic over everything she had endured, being attacked by what Emily now realized must have been a Wendigo and then everything she endured with the killer, right up to seeing Mike die.

Emily had managed to pretty much drag her away from that very human monster's horrific den to the mine tunnel they were currently in.

Shaking her head Emily approached her. _'I can't leave her like this, I need her focused if we're to get outta here alive.'_

She grabbed Jess by the shoulders, prompting Jess to react, by instantly trying to cover her exposed breasts.

"Jess, hey, Jess, look at me." She said. "Hey, c'mon..."

Jess just choked out. "Mike..."

Emily sighed heavily and bit her lip. "I know, Jess. I know, but we…"

"He's dead Em, you, we can't just..."

"Jess, listen to me." Emily hissed. "There is something out there, more dangerous than that man, we have to get away from it...I, I'm not any different from you, I still can't believe Mike died; but..."

Jess shuddered and broke down; this was not going the way Emily hoped.

Composing herself however she lifted Jess' chin, to make the girl look at her.

"Jess, listen, I know what you're feeling right now, don't forget, Mike and I..."

Jess nodded, sniffling and Emily continued. "Yeah, but look, he gave his life trying to save us, if we don't pull it together and focus on getting out of here alive, it would be a waste; it would mean he gave his life for nothing. So we're getting out of here okay, but to do that, I need you to pull yourself together."

Jess nodded again, slowly seeming to calm down.

"Alright, yeah, that's it...We can grieve as much as we want later, okay." Emily replied not even sure where this was coming from.

She and Jess had every reason to be at each other's throats and she wasn't the type for consolation or things like that. But after the suffering they both shared, as well as losing someone they had both cared deeply about, she supposed compassion just came naturally, even to her.

Seeing Jess was a good deal calmer, although obviously still dazed and in too much pain to do much, Emily helped her stand and directed her to follow; they began making their way down the tunnel, seeking a way out of the mines and hopefully to safety.

Their journey was made more difficult by their injuries, for Emily, the worst was her two missing fingers, especially whenever she had to take hold of something, it would be her dominant hand that was the one injured.

"Fuck, it's freezing..." Emily muttered.

Jess nodded. "Y-y-yeah."

Jess certainly had to be feeling the cold more, Emily noted. She was exposed from the waist up, covered only by her bra, Jess had nothing but her panties. It was then Emily spotted something.

"Hold up, that might do it." She said suddenly.

She directed Jess over to where some ratty old miner's coats hung from old fashioned pegs, as well as similar boots. Handing Jess one of the coats Emily quickly pulled the other one on, trying to ignore the musty smell emanating from it.

Jess quickly pulled on a pair of boots too, now only her bare legs bore the brunt of the cold. Looking around Emily was once again grateful to their good fortune as she found an old fashioned lantern which she was able to light with a nearby lighter, although her fingers did cause her difficulty using them both together.

"Right, here we go." She said at last.

She turned, holding the lit lantern, Jess stood nearby, looking even paler, her wounds looking even worse, in the light of the lantern. Emily bit her lip, still amazed at how much Jess seemed to trust her, despite everything that happened between them, the drama, the fights.

She shook her head, between the two of them, despite both of them being in agony, it was clear to Emily she was the more fully functioning one.

' _Jess must have seen or probably thinks that too...Great, so the responsibility for getting us out of here falls on me.'_ She thought sardonically.

Shaking her head she sighed and, preparing herself, began to lead the way, Jess following.

They walked in silence, except for Jess' labored breathing as they turned and made their way down another tunnel; this one mostly bare rock, until they reached some wooden walls. Suddenly they heard the screech again, this time louder, it was closer.

"Huh?" Emily gasped.

Jess looked around, desperate. "Fuck."

Emily began to move quickly. "Quick"

She looked over her shoulder; Jess was following but not quickly, she was stumbling, she couldn't run, the pain was too much. Emily stopped around looked around, she could keep running, even though she was also in such pain.

But to do so would mean abandoning Jess and, despite everything, she couldn't do that, not after Mike died trying to save both of them. She saw another option. She could take cover behind a gap in the wooden wall. Jess' whimper of pain decided for her.

She knew she couldn't keep up if they ran; so this was now the only way

"Alright." She said at last. "Come on, Jess."

She followed him into the gap behind the wall and they pressed themselves up against it, Emily gently motioned for Jess to stay quiet and she did her best, screwing her eyes shut against the agony ricocheting through her body.

They could hear the skittering and screeching behind them, and the ragged breathing of the creature, then it began to fade as it moved away. Suddenly Jess felt dizzy and began to stumble, acting quickly Emily caught her, making her cry out.

"Jeez..." She whispered, looking around, nothing had heard them. "Hold on, nearly there."

Jess's only response was choked. "Oh God..."

"Alright, alright..." She said gently, letting her go once she could stand.

She gently guided Jess out and they began to move down the tunnel, a lot more wary now. Emily quickened her pace slightly, but not to a run. Jess was still able to just about keep up.

"Let's go, we gotta do this, get out of here." She told her. "Come on, come on, come on, come on."

Urged on by Emily, Jess followed as quickly as she could.

As they turned another corner they heard the screeching again.

"Jess!" She cried out in a panic. "Jess come on."

Looking back she could see the creature leaping around the corner, behind them. She then stopped, as did Jess, the path split, they could go left and continue, or she could try and break through the wooden boards to her right, where she could see light filtering in.

She knew Jess couldn't make it down the long path to the left, not with that thing so close behind. So she barged through the boards, breaking them.

"Whoa!" She cried as she nearly overbalanced, almost falling off the cliff.

They were outside now, the snow falling down. Seeing a ledge to their right as Jess joined her, Emily moved carefully over to it, with Jess right behind her.

"Ugh..." She groaned as she felt the cold immediately bite into her bare legs, turning them almost numb. "Oh my god...Okaay..."

She edged up next to Emily and they stopped, staying as still as they dared. The creature leapt out and looked around, growling; but didn't seem to see them, it finally turned and leapt back into the depths of the mines.

Emily let out a breath of relief, Jess slumped against the rock wall behind her, letting out a dry sob.

"We made it out, now we just need to..." Emily said quietly. "Look, the lodge, one more push and we'll make it, let's go."

Seeing the lodge, Jess found the strength to continue and agreed, together the two girls began making their way down, finding a path they could comfortably use, to get down from the ledge and begin heading for the lodge.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	26. Chapter 25

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Chapter 25 of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Well, we can only wait and see.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
thedarkpokemaster: Well, we can only wait and see. Uh, but Sam and Ashley know Mike is dead, they saw his body, remember.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

Having finally made it back to the lodge, after escaping through the tunnels, Sam and Ashley reached the basement room and both sat down, stopping to take a much needed rest.

"God, I...urgh, man..." Sam groaned, grasping at her injured arm.

Ashley bit her lip, trying to ignore the throbbing of her twisted ankle. "Sam, I really think we should...try and do something about that."

Sam nodded. "I wish we could Ash, but, it's not gonna work, we need to get outta here, then we can worry about it."

"I still can't believe this, Josh, Chris, Matt...Mike, they're all...and Hannah?" Ashley stammered.

Sam bowed her head. "Me neither, Ashley, to think, Hannah became that...God, it makes sense now. If you think about what that old guy's journal said."

"You mean, oh God...Hannah survived, but Beth...Hannah... _ate_ her?"

Sam nodded, grimacing. Ashley shuddered with revulsion; just the thought of that, she couldn't imagine how bad things must have been, for Hannah to resort to that. A fresh wave of guilt struck her as again, she recalled exactly why they were out in the forest in the first place.

Trying not to think about it, she asked Sam. "What do we do now?"

"There's nothing we can do, about Hannah anyway..." Sam replied. "We just catch our breath, they do what Mike planned, get to the cable car and get the hell off this mountain...With any luck, if they're still alive, we'll find Jess and Emily along the way and get them out too."

Ashley nodded, hopeful, but that hope faded and was replaced by panic as they heard the unearthly shrieks and saw two Wendigos leap out of the shadows, into the room.

* * *

Making their way through the snow was no easy task, especially in their weakened conditions, especially with the cold eating into their bodies despite their earlier efforts to cover themselves. Jess' bare legs were practically numb now, but she didn't complain.

They were getting closer, they could see the lodge, just down the path from where they were. Seeing Jess smile upon seeing it, Emily allowed herself a little bit of hope too, maybe they could make it after all. That was when they heard a Wendigo scream.

"Oh fuck..." Jess whispered.

Emily shook her head. "Go, go."

They moved as fast as they could, Emily's smashed knee screaming in protest; but they pressed on. They soon reached the door, only to find it locked.

"Oh for fuck sake!" Emily complained. "HEY, HEY, ANYONE IN THERE, OPEN UP!"

Jess looked around worriedly, hearing the shriek again. "Em...It's getting closer..."

Emily growled. "Fuck it, no choice."

She picked up a rock from the ground and smashed one of the glass panes in the door, reaching in to unlock it before hurrying inside. Jess followed and they quickly closed the door. The lodge was surprisingly in darkness and they couldn't hear anything.

"Wh-what now?" Jess asked, looking around, savoring the slight increase in temperature.

Emily shrugged. "No idea, the others must know there's danger...maybe, maybe they're hiding somewhere."

Jess pondered for a moment, trying to distract herself from her own pain. "Maybe they're in the basement."

"It's where I'd hide in this sorta circumstance...let's check it out." Emily replied.

They began to make their way towards the stairs.

They had just reached the cinema room, still not finding any of the others and began to approach the side door when they heard more Wendigos and some very familiar, very human screams.

"RUN, RUN, GO!"

They froze as they saw Ashley and Sam, Ashley limping slightly, running towards them, seeing them the duo gasped.

But then Sam cried out. "Jess, Em, RUN!"

Jess didn't need to be told twice, she turned and moved as quickly as she could, just after Ashley, while Sam was right behind them. Emily then saw what they were running from, not one, but two Wendigos.

With a short cry she reacted, slamming the door shut and locking it, hoping to buy time, before turning and running herself. She ran quickly up the stairs, before almost skidding to a stop, along with the others. For there, hanging onto the chandelier, was a third Wendigo.

' _Fuck, how many are there?!'_ She wondered in shock.

Seeing her Sam hissed. "Don't move, nobody fucking move."

They all waited, still as still as possible, despite everything that they had all endured nearly beating them down.

"Oh, Hannah..." Sam whispered, looking up at the third Wendigo.

Emily almost turned at that, but restrained herself. "Hannah, what the fuck?"

"Later."

For they then heard the skittering and knew the other two Wendigos had come up to join them.

Wendigo Hannah saw their movements and growled. As one of the Wendigo leapt somewhere out of sight, the other approached the middle of the room, just as Hannah leapt down and immediately tackled it. Soon the two were struggling for dominance and Sam quickly glanced around, it was a nightmare, they couldn't escape, not like this, not even with the creatures distracted.

Suddenly the Wendigo screeched as Hannah threw it into the stairs, breaking them and then against the fireplace. Sam's eyes widened when she saw the damage, and also a chance. The Wendigo recovered and climbed the wall, Hannah quickly followed, both of them screeching and snapping at each other.

Sam's eyes were fixed on the broken gas pipe however, leaking gas into the room, she remembered the information about the Wendigos fatal weakness being fire. Right now, killing them was the only option left. It wouldn't be easy, they'd need someone to ignite the gas and whoever did it would more than likely be incinerated too.

Looking around she spotted a bare light bulb, if they could just break it, they'd have the means to make a spark. The light switch was right by the door.

' _It's crazy but...but it's doable...'_ She told himself.

Glancing at Ashley, she saw she had been following the same line of thought; she nodded in agreement, they had a plan, now they just needed to put it into action.

Taking a risk while the Wendigos were distracted, with Hannah even killing the one she was attacking, Ashley knelt down and picked up the fireplace poker that had fallen at her feet. Sam gestured carefully with her head, hoping Jess and Emily would get the message, thankfully they did and moved cautiously; as did Sam.

Just then however they all froze, as Sam stepped on a floorboard which creaked loudly. Currently the only Wendigo in the room, Hannah shrieked and turned to her. She stalked forwards, looking for the source of the sound, Sam remained as rigid as she could, praying desperately.

Ashley recovered enough to move towards the light bulb and quickly smashed it with the poker, exposing the wiring. Unfortunately, she put too much power in her swing, hurt her already injured ankle and fell with a short cry.

Hannah had turned and saw her movement and shrieked, moving rapidly towards where Ashley had been. Sam's breath caught in her throat, her heart hammering, the girl she loved was in grave danger.

' _Shit, shit no...'_ She thought frantically.

Jess meanwhile took her chance and managed to escape out the door. Sam however continued to think, trying to find a way to save Ashley.

Then Ashley screamed as Hannah stepped on her left hand, crushing it. Reacting to the scream, Hannah looked down, growling, and Sam simply reacted, moving to hide behind a nearby pillar, making as much noise as she could.

Then, to be sure, she cried out. "HEY!"

She heard Hannah's screech and the sounds of movement and prayed it worked. She soon got her answer when she felt the rancid breath of the Wendigo Hannah had become, against her cheek. She was right there.

Sam stayed still for as long as she could and, by the time Hannah turned away and moved into the middle of the room, Emily had made her escape. Nodding to Ashley, Sam moved to hide by the fireplace, again, making sure she was heard.

Reluctantly, Ashley escaped, cradling her injured hand, as Hannah closed in and this time, got closer than ever to Sam, practically shrieking in her face, but still Sam remained steady. Hannah turned and moved away again, Sam heard the skittering, the other Wendigo had returned, she knew she couldn't delay anymore, it was now or never.

Taking a deep breath she did the only thing she could, she ran straight for the light switch; she heard the screeching and knew that other Wendigo was chasing her. Desperation pumped massive amounts of adrenaline through her veins, she ran faster, everything pounding through her body, the beast behind her screeched louder.

She didn't dare look, but she caught a flicker of movement out the corner of her eye, where Hannah had been and then heard the fighting, Hannah had attacked the other Wendigo.

' _Now or never!'_

With a yell she leapt forwards, hitting the light switch and propelling herself out the door. The explosion was deafening and made her grunt as the force of it hit her, causing her to be thrown back. Inside the Wendigos were incinerated.

Outside, Sam groaned and slowly picked herself up from where she had landed in the snow. Ashley slowly stood too, moving to stand by her side. Jess and Emily stood nearby, Jess leaning against a tree, Emily standing between Jess and them.

They stood, watching the lodge burn in silence; as the sun rose, bringing daylight at last and with it, the sound of helicopters approaching.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Anyway, since we won't be seeing any fresh ones, just to keep track of things, here's all the injuries sustained over the course of this story by the characters:

Sam: Cuts and bruises, scraped knees and elbows; scrapes on right cheek and above left eyebrow; spattered blood on neck; dislocated collar bone.  
Ashley: Twisted ankle; crushed left hand; black eye; cuts and scrapes.  
Emily: Cuts and scrapes; bloody nose and bruises; gash on forehead; blow to back of head; torture wounds.  
Jess: Several deep gashes and claw marks, cuts to face, chest, arms and legs, burn mark on right cheek from branding iron.  
Josh: Gash in forehead; cuts and bruises; head crushed (Fatal Wound).  
Chris: Bruises; sprained ankle; decapitated (Fatal Wound).  
Matt: Scrapes; covered in grime; falls from a ledge to a heavy landing (Fatal Wound).  
Mike: Cuts and bruises; covered in grime, impaled on a steel pole (Fatal Wound).

Also, for collaboration, here are Emily's torture wounds:

Struck with a hammer on her left knee  
Cut several times with a knife on her upper arms and chest also having right pinky and ring fingers cut of.  
Fingernails on left hand removed.  
Red hot branding iron forcing into her stomach and onto her legs, both above the knee, also used on her severed fingers to cauterize them  
Simulated drowning  
Attempts to drill into her right thigh.


	27. Epilogue

**Until Dawn: Embers of Hope**

Final Chapter of my Until Dawn story, enjoy.

 **Reviews**

 **Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.  
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.  
thedarkpokemaster: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, true enough, as this chapter will show.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Until Dawn or its characters.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

The darkness felt oppressive, closing in on her; Ashley tossed and turned but she couldn't sleep, every time she closed her eyes she saw them, those who had died. The Wendigos, then, the nightmares, of those beasts, of them attacking her, worse, attacking Sam, with her being powerless to stop it. She sat up, unable to take it anymore.

' _Urgh, this is just...why won't it stop…?'_

After being rescued by the helicopters, she, Sam, Emily and Jess had been taken and interviewed by the police, before being treated for their injuries at a nearby hospital. The police of course hadn't believed their stories at first, until following Sam's words and going to the lodge, to the mines. There they found the bodies of the boys, along with the Stranger and the killer, not to mention the remains of several Wendigos.

Ashley shook her head. _'Even if they still don't fully believe, they at least finally realized we weren't crazy...But now, now what are we…?'_

Despite their best efforts since the incident, reintegrating back into normal society was tougher than they thought. Which was of course why Ashley found herself restless this very night.

' _There's no way I'm getting to sleep tonight...unless...'_ Ashley thought before giving in.

She picked up her phone and sent a quick text to Sam.

" _Sam, are you awake?"_

Sam replied mere moments later. _"Yeah Ash, I can't sleep. You too?"_

" _Yeah, could you...could you come over, I don't wanna be alone."_

" _See you soon."  
_ Ashley let out a slow breath and waited; hopeful.

She practically jumped out of bed when there was a knock at the door. Opening it, Sam stood, smiling at her.  
"Hey."

Ashley immediately pulled her inside, closing the door and hugging her, Sam returned the hug with a short laugh.

"Easy Ash, I'm here now." She said.

They parted and Sam looked Ashley up and down. Ashley couldn't help but blush, cursing her decision to wear her current clothing. But if Sam thought anything of her girlfriend's 'Hello Kitty' pajamas, she didn't say it.

She simply guided Ashley over to the bed again, sitting down she pulled off her sneakers, hooded top and sweatpants and, clad in just her panties and tank-top; lay down.

"C'mon, let's try and get some sleep now." She said, patting the space next to her.

Ashley didn't need any further prompting and lay down next to Sam. Soon they held each other close and savored their shared warmth beneath the blankets.

With a tender kiss, they settled in as finally, they began to drift off, helping each other keep their nightmares and personal demons away for the night, granting them for the first time since the lodge incident, a peaceful night's sleep.

* * *

End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


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